Lovely Sad

When rescheduling their first date, neither John nor Poppy had paid close attention to a calendar. It was only the morning of when John called a few restaurants to try and get a reservation for their first date do over was he informed that it was Valentine’s Day and there was a snowball’s chance in hell any restaurant would have any openings. He was embarrassed to admit to Poppy that he hadn’t noticed the date and now was unsure where they were supposed to go. However, she assured him it wasn’t a big deal and she was fine with just casual drinks again.

Bridget joined Poppy at her Tempe apartment, keeping her company while she spent all day getting ready to meet up with John.

She questioned why Poppy was putting in so much effort to her appearance if she was so adamant about how uninterested in dating John she was. But Poppy repeatedly explained that she was just doing it to make sure that he knew this wasn’t going to work because Poppy said so, not because he did.

As ridiculous as she found it to be, she wished her best friend good luck as she dropped her off at the bar the two had agreed to meet at. This time, however, John was the early one and was already waiting outside of the bar when Poppy arrived. Leaning against the wall, his hands were shoved into the pockets of his worn black jeans. Wearing a purple long sleeved Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers shirt, a black beanie and sunglasses completed his look. Even from behind his sunglasses, Poppy could still tell he was looking her up and down as she approached him, his eyes obviously lingering for a few extra moments on her long legs. The short black skater skirt she had paired with black high heels made her tanned legs appear a mile long, an outfit choice John was obviously appreciating.

“You look good.” He spoke as she finally reached him.

Poppy offered a weak thanks, crossing her arms across her chest in an attempt to wrap her leather jacket around herself a little tighter.

He pulled open the door to the bar he had been leaning next to, gesturing for Poppy to go in ahead. A gentlemanly gesture that he was definitely just using as an excuse to check out Poppy’s outfit from behind.

Unlike the previous Monday, this bar was absolutely packed with people. And it seemed like everyone there was already drunk, desperately searching for a hook up so they wouldn’t have to spend Valentine’s Day alone. Poppy had a feeling this was probably going to be a long night. Making their way to the bar, John ordered them some drinks, before leaning against the bar to face Poppy.

“How’s work been this week?” He offered, just as the bartender slid the drinks over the bartop towards them. John handed one to Poppy who took a long sip before answering.

“Busy. Just glad to have the week be over.”

John just nodded in agreement, glancing around the room at the mass group of intoxicated people around them. He didn’t want to be here tonight and part of him was still expecting Poppy to list off some set of excuses as to why she couldn’t stay and leave John alone in this bar again. Then he’d be free to have a couple drinks alone and not have to put on a fake smile and nod as he pretended to listen to whatever Poppy might have to say. Maybe not in this bar, though. Neither of them had been here before, but the Yelp review John had read online promised live music and a casual atmosphere. However obnoxious Top 40 pop played throughout the bar sound system and most of the patrons looked like they could pass as spring break college students. Most of them probably weren’t even 21. Once Poppy inevitably stormed off after he said the wrong thing, John thought, he’d have to find a new bar to pick up a girl for the night in, preferably one where all the girls were of age.

A small, obviously artificial, red head brushed passed John to the bar, winking as she walked passed him. There was no way that girl was even 18 yet.

Shaking his head, he turned his attention back towards Poppy who seemed equally as disgusted with the bar’s surroundings. For a brief second John almost laughed out loud, imagining what Poppy must have been thinking. She was always well put together, and carried herself confidently. There was no way she frequented bars like this, and he wondered if she had ever even been in a seedy bar like this before. Way out of her element, he pictured Poppy frequenting country club bars, wearing sun dresses and those obnoxiously large floppy hats. Then again, there was the silver hoop pierced through the right side of her nose, and a brief glimpse of what appeared to be a tattoo across the left side of her ribs John had caught when she had taken off her jacket on their first date. Not enough of a view of it to make out what the inked artwork was, only a small part of it visible in the small strip of exposed skin between her cropped tank top and jeans. Yet it was still enough to hint to John that maybe Poppy did have a bit of an edgy side. Maybe if he cared enough, he’d ask her about it later.

No, Poppy obviously thought she was above John, he wasn’t going to waste his time getting to know her. He was just here to please Ashley and get the twins off his case about this blind date.

She unzipped her leather jacket, offering John a full view of her outfit. She was wearing another cropped halter top, except this one was black to match the rest of her ensemble. Evidently he wasn’t the only one enjoying the new view of her relatively form-fitting outfit, as another man approached the pair. Man was a relatively loose term to describe him, however, as John was sure he couldn’t be much older than 21. His Arizona State shirt informed John he was on some sports team at the university, but the poor lighting in the bar was far too dim for him to fully make out the rest of the small font on the fabric.

“Shit,” came the stranger’s slurred words as he stepped into the space between John and Poppy, his back to John as he leaned far too close to Poppy for his liking. “how many drinks do I have to get into you before we’re back at my house fu-“

John had heard enough, roughly grabbing the kid’s shoulder and effortlessly shoving him backwards. “Fuck off.” He snapped, giving him an extra shove backwards for emphasis. “She’s with me.”

In the process, the younger man’s beer had spilled out of his hand landing all over Poppy as he stumbled backwards. He looked at John as if he were momentarily contemplating whether he was going to push him back. John was a good six inches taller than this kid, there was no way he was going to win this one. He must have realized this too as he threw his hands up, backing away. “Wow, ok. Fine. No need to get so fucking pushy.” He mumbled, disappearing back into the crowd.

Poppy mumbled a brief thank you as she reached for some napkins off the bar to begin to attempt to soak up some of the alcohol that she was now covered in.

As annoyed he was at the girl and the whole idea of being dragged out on this doomed second date, he felt bad watching Poppy’s futile effort to dab away the wetness from her black top. No girl deserved to be subject to a place like this, especially not on Valentine’s Day. He sighed, running a hand through his hair out of frustration. His conscience was kicking in and he wasn’t too fond of that at the moment. He couldn’t believe he was going to do it, but John reached out and placed a hand on Poppy’s arm to grab her attention.

John’s parents had taught him better than to treat any girl like this. Whether he had intentions of calling her back the following day or not, he needed to treat all girls with respect. Maybe when he was 21 and stupid he would have brought a girl to a place like this. This had to be the worst possible location for a date he had ever been to. No girl should ever have to suffer through a real date in a place like this. Even potentially pretentious girls like Poppy.

He wasn’t going to make her stay here any longer than they had already been, but he was at a loss of where else to go. He had already called all of his go-to restaurants for reservations and their lack of availability was what had landed the pair here in the first place.

“Is it too forward to just invite you back to my place now?”

Poppy looked up from her shirt, staring at John with wide eyes, unsure if she had heard him correctly. She had come into this date to taunt John with what he couldn’t have and now he was just blatantly asking her to sleep with him. She was going to kill Bridget and her friends who had set this all up as soon as she was home.

“Look, this place is awful.” John gestured around him as he spoke. “Possibly even worse than our first date. No one should have to endure an entire date here.”

“I guess, but-“ Poppy started, only to be cut off by John.

“I’ve got a bottle of wine we could open and we can actually have our date without all these unnecessary distractions around us.”

“Alright.” Poppy agreed, placing the wad of soiled napkins she had in her hand onto the bar. “But just know I’m not going to sleep with you, if that’s what you’re moving towards.”

John laughed out loud, shaking his head. How typical of a girl like Poppy to just assume every guy in here was trying to get her into bed. Not that John hadn’t thought about it, though. In fact, it was all he could think of when he first saw her earlier, taking in just how long and tanned her legs had looked in that skirt. But at the moment John just genuinely wanted to get as far away from this bar as possible. “Darlin’, I just want to get the hell out of here. Unfortunately I didn’t think far enough in advance to plan my own fake friend crisis.”

****

John had driven to the bar that night, so he gave Poppy a ride back to his Chandler house that he shared with a few of his close friends. One of those friends being Ashley, one of the culprits behind this entire blind date. He wasn’t too fond of her at the moment. All of his other roommates must have actually remembered that today was a romantic holiday as none of them were home, assuming they were all either out with their significant others or drunk at a bar trying to find someone significant for the night.

Few words were exchanged between the pair as John led her into the living room, informing her to take a seat and make herself comfortable. Poppy slipped off her jacket, hanging it over the back of the couch as she watched John disappear around the corner into the kitchen. He reappeared with a bottle and two wine glasses almost immediately, placing them onto the coffee table as he took a seat next to Poppy. Pouring the red wine into the glasses, he handed one to Poppy before adjusting his position on the couch so he could lean back against the arm rest and fully face her. Mirroring John’s position, Poppy brought her legs up to her chest, sipping the alcoholic beverage as the pair sat in silence.

It wasn’t until after Poppy finished the second glass John poured her that she worked up the courage the break the silence. It was very obvious John was disinterested in the idea of offering Poppy a do-over of their first date, and was going to make absolutely no attempt to initiate conversation with her. She had always been quite a lightweight, and these two glasses now brought Poppy a new dose of confidence laced with an alcohol induced buzz. She just didn’t know where to start a conversation. Maybe it was the alcohol beginning to dilute her bloodstream, but Poppy was having a hard time tearing her eyes away from John. His attention seemed more fixated on the large window behind Poppy, paying almost no attention to his date. She had wanted to get his attention and be the one to abruptly turn him down at the end of the night, but she hadn’t exactly taken into consideration how attractive she found him when brainstorming that idea. He was incredibly good looking, so it couldn’t hurt to give this an actual try, right?

She let her eyes wander around the room in an attempt to find anything to inspire a conversation topic. Her gaze fell onto one of the framed photos hanging on the wall by the television. It was a picture of John and another brunette man posing with the same dog from John’s Instagram post.

“I saw your subtweet about me.” Subtle.

John finally looked over at Poppy, leaning forward to place his now empty wine glass onto the table. “What do you mean?” He asked as he rose from the couch. Disappearing off into the kitchen, he reappeared a few seconds later with a fresh bottle of wine to pour them each a new glass.

“Right after our date,” She explained, taking the glass back from John “you posted that picture of your dog talking about how she was definitely the only girl you need. Subtle, but I got the message, John.”

He let out a genuine and hearty laugh for the first time that night, taking a sip of his wine before answering her. “Yeah, I guess that was a little childish of me. My apologies, Poppy.”

He was still laughing lightly as Poppy rolled her eyes. She was trying to act annoyed, but the sound of his laughter made Poppy want to smile herself. “It honestly was a work emergency.”

John just shrugged, unsure of what Poppy was expecting him to say.

“I mean, why would I have ditched you and then asked you out on a follow up date?”

“That’s what I’ve been sitting here trying to figure out.” His answer was genuine as he looked Poppy over once more. He was no fashion expert, but he was fairly certain that her entire outfit contained designer labels that John couldn’t even imagine affording. She was so well put together and intimidating, and John just didn’t know what to make of her or why she was so interested in giving this a shot with him. “Pretty girls like you always have ulterior motives.”

She did, but now she felt so guilty about them. Now she just wanted John to like her because she felt like she was beginning to like him too. “No ulterior motives at all.”

“Just to corner me and call out my subtweet.”

“Just that,” Poppy laughed, enjoying the way John’s lips turned upwards into a smirk. “but that’s out of my system now.”

Her smile and laughter seemed genuine to John, prompting the voice in the back of his head to start to whisper that perhaps every preconceived notion he had about Poppy was completely wrong. “I guess I just got a little bit ahead of myself. I didn’t realize you’d actually turn out to be so likeable.” John couldn't believe himself as he heard the words leave his mouth. Was he actually about to admit that he was sofening towards Poppy?

“Likeable?” Poppy repeated, watching as John took a large drink from his glass undoubtedly to buy himself a few more seconds as he tried to think of a reply.

“I’m tolerating you.” He corrected in an attempt to backtrack his previous statement. He didn't really know much about her so he couldn't actually like her, but the longer he sat here staring at her shy smile the more he felt a nagging feeling inside that part of him wanted to actually get to know this girl. He wanted to get to know the real Poppy, the honest version you could only discover when she dropped her guard after a couple drinks.

“No, you’re starting to like me.” Poppy teased.

“Is that not the same thing?” John spoke slowly, trying to keep his effortlessly cool demeanour intact, despite the blush he felt slowly creeping up his neck.

Poppy shook her head in disagreement, causing John to scratch the back of his neck as a nervous reflex. “If it makes you feel better, I’m starting to like you too.”

The mega watt smile John cast in Poppy’s direction was enough to make her heart skip a beat. This was sickeningly cliche. She came into this date determined to walk all over John and make herself feel superior and all it took was a couple laughs and a smile from him and she was swooning over him all over again. But his smiles seemed genuine, not like the forced one he had given her when she first met him at the bar. Maybe he was determined to hate her too and was failing just as badly at it as she was.

“I think we should propose a toast, then.” He leaned forward to top up both of their wine glasses, and Poppy noted that when he took his seat back on the couch he had moved significantly closer to Poppy. His free arm draped over the back of the couch, he raised his wine glass up towards Poppy. “To starting to like each other.”

Poppy hesitated before lifting her own glass to meet his. “I should be honest with you, John.”

He raised his eyebrows, signalling for Poppy to continue.

“I’m always going to put work first. Like if this-” she used her free hand that wasn’t holding her wine to gesture between the two of them, “goes anywhere, I’m still always going to put work first. It’s just the way I am.”

The corner of John’s mouth turned upwards into a crooked smile as Poppy chewed nervously on her bottom lip waiting for a reply from him. “And I’m always going to put music and the band before you.”

“Good.” Poppy smiled, clinking her glass against John’s. “Cheers to being workaholics, then.”