Lovely Sad

Arriving back at her office almost 40 minutes after Candice’s initial frantic phone call, Poppy sprinted up the flight of stairs, her long discarded heels clutched firmly in one hand. Panic had set in on her drive over to the office that something was off and she was about to lose this contract. The end of the contract surely meant the end of this company Poppy had spent so long building. Prior to departing to start up her own firm, Poppy worked a more than comfortable job at another design firm, being one of a few dozen designers hired on contract. But she didn’t want to be a temp on a team, she wanted to make a name of her own and show off the true potential she believed she had. And if this new company folded she had no backup plan, severing most of her ties with her previous employer when she took her client list and most of her assistants with her when she left. It was a risky move, one most onlookers would have warned her against, but her family and friends believed in her and supported her every step of the way. A sick feeling began to rise in her throat thinking about calling her parents up and having to inform them she had completely failed.

Not only was it risky, but this business endeavour had been an expensive one too. When Bridget eventually moved out of the two bedroom townhouse the pair moved into right after Poppy’s annulment and Bridget’s graduation, Poppy had contemplated selling it and buying her dream home. The savings she had collected from her ample yearly salary even allowed her the opportunity to build this dream house herself from the ground up, but instead she stayed in the tiny home, funding her new business entirely out of pocket. Granted the business was doing quite well and Poppy was steadily earning back all of the money she had invested, but this new contract was supposed to be her big break. Poppy and Adrian were going to get her name out there and Poppy was going to be become the designer success story she had dreamed about since she was a little girl.

Maybe she’d get to finally build that dream home too.

Pushing open the door of her personal office she was greeted by Adrian leaning against her desk and Candice standing across from him with arms folded firmly across her chest. This definitely didn’t look like a friendly ‘I had to call you in here because I decided I wanted to change the colour of the master bedroom and this change in paint colour was an absolute emergency and couldn’t wait’ kind of meeting. No, this was definitely about to be more of a ‘I know you used to be married to my fiancee and I can’t handle the thought of competition so you’re fired and I’m going to make it my life mission to ruin your reputation and career’ meeting.

“You look nice.” Adrian commented, earning a glare from Candice. In her eyes this disaster of a day was entirely his fault. His unexpected presence was what had gotten her into this slump in the first place, and if this deal was about to be cancelled, whether it was Candice making the decision or not, she was going to place the blame for the failure of this company on him.

“Yeah, I was on a date.” Poppy snapped, stepping around him to place her shoes and purse onto her desk. She took a deep breath to calm herself. This was definitely not the time to lose her cool, and she needed to be polite and lovely Poppy if there was going to be any hope of saving her career. “Now does somebody want to tell me what the hell is going on here?”

“The engagement is off, apparently.” Adrian answered dryly. Poppy’s stomach completely dropped. Candice must have found out about their past relationship.

Poppy raised an eyebrow at Candice who just shook her head. “How am I supposed to marry a man who’s so heartless?” She cried.

Ironically, it was a question Poppy had asked herself multiple times before about Adrian. Heartless was one of the exact adjectives Bridget had chosen to describe Adrian when she was left to pick up the broken pieces of Poppy while their marriage was falling apart. Three years detached from that break up Poppy was no longer bitter or angry towards the man, at least not for the mistakes he had made during their time together. She was definitely going to be angry and bitter over him ruining this job for her.

Poppy wouldn’t describe Adrian as heartless, he just wasn’t big on showing traditional affection all the time. He preferred spreading out on the couch to watch television on his own over cuddling up to watch a movie, and would hold your hand over the centre console of the car while driving, but didn’t see the need to hold your hand while walking through a busy shopping mall. He just liked to do things his way, it didn’t mean he didn’t care. He had his own way of showing his affection, like making sure your favourite snacks were always stocked in the pantry, letting you win at mini golf, or putting your towel in the dryer while you were still in the shower so it would be nice and warm as soon as you got out.

Although there wasn’t really a way Poppy could explain that to Candice without making this whole situation worse.

“I don’t want to marry you,” Candice spat at Adrian, “and the house needs to be cancelled.”

This was it, Poppy thought, this is the end of my career. Ironic, really, that she had been judging John earlier this evening for his lack of a proper job when Poppy was about to be out of hers.

“Sweetheart, you can’t cancel a house thats already 90% built.” Adrian tried to reason, his pet name causing Poppy to visibly cringe.

This was the last place Poppy wanted to be right now. Cancelling her own date to be roped in as a marriage councillor for her ex-husband. But the end of their relationship meant the end of Poppy’s design firm, so someone needed to be the mediator and talk Candice down from the ledge she had worked herself onto. Despite every bone in her body screaming at her not to, she took a seat at her desk calmly. “Ok, let’s talk this out. I’m sure it’s a problem we can fix.”

****

An agonizingly long hour later, Candice had calmed down and the pair were packing up their things to leave Poppy’s office. Their engagement tentatively still on, Poppy regretted not finishing the drink John had bought her earlier. She could definitely use a little alcohol in this situation. Tensions still high, the couple had agreed to seeing someone professionally and leaving Poppy out of it. Poppy lacked interest in the details of the steps her ex-husband was going to be taking to strengthen his current relationship, but she had received confirmation that the building and decorating of the house she had been hired to complete were definitely still on. Taking solace in the thought that she was still going to have a job and was not a complete and total failure, Poppy was no exhausted from the roller coaster of a night she had been through.

The couple gathered up their things, muttering words of appreciation towards Poppy as they prepared to leave. As Candice departed the office heading towards her car, Adrian held back for a second turning to fully face Poppy who was now also standing.

“Thanks, Pops. I know that couldn’t have been easy.”

Poppy shrugged lamely, unsure of what kind of reaction he was looking for. But he leaned forward, pulling Poppy into a hug that lingered just a little too long for her liking. Her entire body froze in place as she felt him press a quick kiss to the top of her head, before he let her go and left the office just as abruptly as he had arrived back into her life. Frozen in place for a few moments longer, Poppy’s mind slowly started to process what had just happened.

Pulling herself back to reality, any relief she had temporarily felt as a result of securing her job security was now gone. Every nerve in Poppy’s body was now on edge and she was anxiously itchy in her own skin. Was it too late to head back to the bar for a little alcohol to calm herself back down?

The clock hanging on the wall of Poppy’s posh office it was nearing 11:00, ample time to grab a drink before the bars closed for the night. She snatched her phone up from her desk, contemplating who to call to meet her for that drink. Her thumb hovered over the conversation with John, momentarily weighing the option of calling him to see if he would meet her for a redo of the date she had bailed early on just a few hours before. Shaking her head she scrolled past his name, settling for typing out a quick message to Bridget instead.

Calling John to meet her somewhere for a drink again at 11:00 seemed too much like a booty call, and that was the last thing she wanted him to think about her, especially after the awful first impression she must have made already.

Receiving confirmation from Bridget that she was going to break her ‘don’t drink during the week’ rule and that she was currently on her way to Poppy’s apartment with a bottle of wine, Poppy gathered up her own things to leave. Making sure to lock the office on her way out, her exact level of exhaustion began to hit her just as she pulled up to her apartment. At that exact moment Poppy just wanted to crawl into bed and sleep the next few months away. She’d wake up from her peaceful slumber when Candice and Adrian’s house was completed and then Poppy could merrily continue on with her life.

Bridget’s car was already parked out front, and Poppy found her seated on one of the couches in the living room, two glasses of wine already poured and waiting.

“Rough date?” Bridget questioned as she watched Poppy kick off her shoes, fall onto the couch. Letting herself sink into the plush cushions of the sofa, Poppy shook her head. She had been rather vague in her texts to Bridget, leaving out a few minor details when explaining the crisis her night had turned into. One of those details being the fact that Adrian was back in Poppy’s life. “Sorry if John turned out to be a total bust. Melissa spoke so highly of him, we were sure it was a good match!”

“No, the date ended before it even got started.” Poppy contemplated blurting out to Bridget that it wasn’t John that was the problem, but rather it was her ex-husband. But she knew how much Bridget hated Adrian, and she knew she was going to flip out. She was in no mood for a long lecture from Bridget, especially since she was just going to yell things that Poppy already knew as she had heard them countless times before from her best friend. Deciding it would be a better idea to just leave him out of it for the time being, Poppy kept her answers vague. “I got pulled away for a work emergency.”

“A work emergency?” Bridget sounded just as skeptical as John had when she had answered Candice’s phone call.

“I’m serious. Those new clients I just signed, the one’s who are essentially going to make or break my career, tried to break up tonight. I ended up leaving John to play mediator.”

It wasn’t that she was going to lie and not tell Bridget about Adrian forever. It was just easier in the moment to omit his name from the conversation. When the time was right, she’d fill her in on all of the details. Tonight, Poppy was enjoying her glass of wine far too much to start the battle that always arose when she mentioned Adrian’s name.

“You’re fucking kidding me.” Bridget muttered in disbelief, taking a long drink from her own wine glass. “What did John say?”

“He just left.” Poppy shrugged, far too exhausted to care at this point. “Probably didn’t believe me.”

“No shit he didn’t believe you.” Poppy rolled her eyes at Bridget’s reaction, “Are you going to see him again?”

“I don’t know.” Closing her eyes, Poppy leaned further back into the couch, ready to just call it a night on this horrible day and move on.

“Do you want to see him again?”

“I guess. He was cute.”

Bridget seemed skeptical with Poppy’s bland answer, and even with her eyes closed she could tell Bridget was scowling over at the blonde. “If he was cute, like you claim, then why did you abruptly leave him to go back to work?”

“Because it was an emergency, Bridget.”

“But you’re an interior decorator, not a couple’s therapist. That wasn’t your emergency to deal with!”

Poppy took her free hand that was not holding her glass of wine and rubbed it roughly over her face, groaning loudly. She thought by not mentioning Adrian she was avoiding a lecture from Bridget, but instead she had walked herself straight into a different scalding. She was going to need more than just a bottle of wine to get through this one.