My Only Exception (gxg)

Part 16

As the next few weeks went by, it was growing increasingly difficult to ignore Poppy at work or pretend as though I didn't like her anymore.

As for someone who definitely wasn't Poppy's biggest fan anymore, it was Sydney. She was hurt that Poppy didn't want to pick up anything romantic with her again, and it showed by how she tended to give Poppy the cold shoulder.

The most difficult person to keep it from obviously was Emily. Even though she was spending a lot of time with Evan, she still made time for me.

Guilt chewed away at me when I was with her, but I knew I wasn't going to stop seeing Poppy. Not at this point.

To my surprise, Emily asked me about Poppy one night when we grabbed dinner together.

"Has work been okay with Poppy?" she asked me, "Do you still just kind of ignore her?"

I nodded, "Pretty much, yes."

"Let me guess, she flirts with a bunch of customers? And even coworkers?"

A chill went down my spine, knowing what I was keeping from Emily.

"Surprisingly, not too much," I said back to Emily.

"That is surprising. Maybe she's turned over a new leaf or something."

I shrugged, "Maybe she has."

One night at work on the last day of February, I was working with Poppy, Sydney, and Diego.

Poppy and Sydney were making the drinks, Diego was on the register, and I was cleaning everything at the sink in the back and helping when needed.

It was a pretty busy night, and we were all hustling. At one point I went behind the bar to help Sydney and Poppy make some drinks.

I stood next to Poppy as we each made a drink, and she accidentally knocked over a bottle of almond milk. There wasn't much left in the bottle thankfully, but some spilled out.

Without even thinking, I chuckled and said, "Nice one, Poptart. Let me help you clean that."

Poppy turned and looked at me, wide eyed.

Fuck. I just called her "Poptart". Sydney and Diego most definitely heard that.

Poppy recovered quickly, and she said, "Don't call me that. But I appreciate the help."

It was a good save, and Diego didn't seem to notice. Sydney, however, looked at me suspiciously.

As I helped Poppy clean up the almond milk, I whispered to her, "Sorry."

I hope she's not pissed.

I closed with Sydney that night. She was oddly quiet as we closed together, and I don't do well with that.

"Is everything alright, Syd?" I asked, "If I did something, I'd rather know than have you ignore me."

"You didn't do anything, Delilah. At least I don't think you did. I just found it weird when you called Poppy 'Poptart' today. It was almost like it was something you say often to her," Sydney said to me.

Fuck.

"It's not," I lied, "It was just a quick nickname I came up with in the moment. She obviously didn't like it."

Sydney chuckled, "She definitely didn't like it. I'm sure you won't call her that again."

Yeah, okay.

"I won't be," I said, "You have nothing to worry about, Syd."

Sydney smiled, and relief washed over me.