Loving Poppy (On Hold)

07. "Date?"

07. "Date?"

Alessandro

Alessandro was having a bad day.

It all started when his phone rang before dawn and he had to rush to his office. His mood only deflated from there. It was only noon and he had fired three of his employees and shattered a vintage art piece.

His employees were too afraid to approach him, or even come in his way. He had to been cooped up in his office all day and most of the night, it was the first day after his outing with Poppy, and he did not even call her all day. But he realised it too late and figured she must have slept by then.

The same pattern continued for a few more days until the matter at the company was finally solved. As Alessandro laid in his bed late at night his eyes searched for poppy's contact in his phone. He wanted to talk to her but messaging would have to do for now, he did not want to disturb her sleep if she was in fact sleeping.

Want to hang out tomorrow?
What about lunch?

He quickly sent the message and waited for a reply, when she did not reply for a few minutes he concluded that she must be sleeping. He placed the phone on his nightstand and prepared to sleep when the familiar ding of the phone caught his attention.

Of course. Lunch sounds great :)

He found himself grinning like a fool at the reply, he was so looking forward to meet her tomorrow. After days of hectic work some free time with Poppy was all he needed. Goodness what was wrong with him? Whatever it was it felt good and he did not want it to stop.

He slept peacefully that night with a small smile on his face.

____

Poppy wanted to look good for Alessandro, she had curled her hair into soft curls and applied a little make up that included berry lipgloss, a coating of mascara, powder and she finished off with a few sprays of her favourite fruity perfume.

She was dressed casually since she had work today but she did make some effort and it was clearly visible, not only to her but her mother and sister too who were for once sitting on the dining table waiting for breakfast.

Poppy wanted to join them but she knew they would only end up having an argument, one she wanted to avoid today. So she opted for a small apple from the fruit basket and bid Goodbye to Carla before heading out of the front door with her bag dangling from her small shoulders.

She skipped on her way to work happily munching on the apple, she was radiation happy energy today. Lauren was the first one to notice her too-happy-to-be-at-work weirdness and bluntly asked her if she had a naughty night.

"Goodess! Lauren!" Poppy exclaimed horrified.

"What? That's the only explaination for your mood. No one is as happy as you in the middle of the week at work."

"I am just happy because I meeting someone for lunch! That's it! Remove those thoughts from you mind!"

There were only a few customers at the time so Max and Jordan were doing all the waiting while Poppy helped Lauren with the pastry and all things baking.

Time flew by fast and soon it was lunch time, Poppy changed her uniform with her own clothes and assessed herself in the mirror placed in her locker. She looked okay considering her makeup was somewhat still intact and her hair was not everywhere.

"Are you going on a date or something?" Lauren commented while passing her on the way to her own locker. Poppy's eyes widened at the thought. But she quickly shook it off,

"It was a friendly lunch between two friendly people who were friendly to each other." She rushed out in response.

"Too much 'friendly' in there."

Just then her phone rang with an incoming call. Seeing Alessandro's name she picked it up and went to the other corner where Lauren couldn't listen. Lauren only laughed at her behaviour.

"Hello!" She greeted happily earning a soft chuckle in response.

"I am where you asked. But I don't see you anywhere missy."

"I will be there in a second. So don't go anywhere. I'm coming!" She placed her backpack in the locker and shut it carefully before shouting a goodbye to Lauren over her shoulder and giggling afterwards when Lauren did the same.

She skipped out and looked around in the scorching sun for Alessandro, which wasn't hard since he was taller than a pole. He hadn't spotter her yet and was leaning on his car with shades on. He was dressed in cream colour pants and a while shirt rolled up to his sleeves. He looked beautiful, and by the looks of the people who passed by, they thought so too.

"Hey!" She squealed when she reached into a hearing distance from him, skipping the rest of the steps. He instinctively held her small hand in his, pulling her closer ever so slightly. His movements unbelievably gentle with her.

"For a moment I feared you wouldn't come." He said honestly causing Poppy to pout slightly.

"It was Lauren, she held me in a conversation." She wasn't lying, but what mattered was that she was here with him and she was adamant on having a good time.

He opened the car door for her like a true gentleman that he wasn't and she slid in giggling at his antics. His heart fluttered like it always did when he heard the sound of her sweet laugh. God knows he missed her.

"Where do you want to go sweetheart?" Her face burned at the sweet endearment he used. She wasn't used to it.

"Anywhere you want to go." She mumbled, attempting to hide her flushed cheeks with her hair.

"I know a good place. It's my favourite actually."

"Oh, do you go there often?"

"Not really, usually I'm all alone so I prefer take out. It's better with a company, especially someone like you."

His charming smile send butterflies to her stomach, her heart thumped against her chest in delight. She managed to nod in acknowledgement and turned away to hide her tomato resembling face. Catching a glimpse of her flushed face he chuckled and placed a hand around her shoulder, pulling her closer to him, happy that she leaned towards him slightly.