Poppy
The wind picked up and whipped my hair as I opened the door. Thunderstorms loomed in the distance.
“Let me grab an umbrella,” I shouted to Gabe as I spun to re-enter my home. He caught my wrist.
“I’ve got it. And I drove the Garia. We’re safe.”
“Ah, yes, the ritzy cart.” The cart had doors—like, physical doors. A couple of year-rounders owned them, and I imagined they were quite nice in the rain, but on a sunny day, no, thank you.
“How’s your week been?” he asked as I settled in the seat, taking care to ensure my long, flowing skirt didn’t get trapped in the metal door.
“Good. Busy.”
“Any progress on the restaurant front?”
“I’ve been mainly focusing on my classwork and preparing for final exams.”
“They have exams? Isn’t it a seminar?”
“Well, you get a certification. And I’m sure they aren’t, you know, like college exams, but I still need to study. How was your week?” He’d tried several times to get together, but I kept putting him off. But me being me, I found it hard to say no to him, and so here we were on our first official date. A date I’d be so much more relaxed on if we were going as friends. That was how Ben and I worked it for four years. The friends thing had drawbacks, sure, but there was also a comfort to it.
“Fine. I’m doing the day trading thing. Keeps my mind fresh.” His sunglasses hid his eyes, but his response fell flat.
“You’re going out of your mind, aren’t you?”
He grinned. “Bored out of my fucking mind. There’s an airfield nearby, and I flew a few times this week, mostly over the South Carolina and Georgia coast. Found a hang-gliding place near Nags Head. I think I might try that next week.”
“There’s a SCUBA place in Wilmington. There are some cool wreck dives you can go on off the coast.”
“Do you dive?”
“No. I tried it out once. I got about ten feet down, panicked, and swam up. Pulled the instructor right up with me. He had me on this rope contraption.”
Gabe laughed. Not as hard as the others in my class that day, but he appreciated the disaster known as Poppy.
“Tate’s been pushing to go out to a wreck near here. I’m planning on it one of these days. I was going to join Luna and Tate last week, but the weather didn’t cooperate.”
“Aren’t they the happy couple these days?” Before Tate came along, Luna had been my go-to person. But life evolved.
“Happy for now.”
“What do you mean?”
He angled his head and gave me a look that said ‘come on now.’ “They’re cute together, but they’re going different places.”
“How so?” My defensive hackles raised. I didn’t care how helpful Gabe’s friend had been with my restaurant endeavor, razing my girl wouldn’t fly.
“Tate’s gonna end up in DC as a lobbyist or consultant. She’ll spend years combing the Caribbean, doing research and working on her PhD. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not faulting either of them. I think they’re both great people. It’s just with their age difference, they’re bound to follow different paths eventually. Doesn’t mean I don’t think they’re great together right now.”
I nodded in conversational agreement, but I felt heart heavy for my friend. The way she spoke about Tate, completely enamored, I didn’t think she viewed it as temporary. She’d actually moved in with Tate unofficially. It would be official in another few months when the residency house she’d been living in turned over to one of the summer interns.
Gabe’s fingers slipped some of my unruly frizz behind my ear, and his thumb brushed my cheek. “Hey, don’t get sad. I’d say they have a few years in them.”
“Yeah.” I gave him a half-smile and gazed off to my right, over the ocean. The sun lowered toward the horizon as our cart climbed the hill. “Does Tate see it the way you do? As a temporary thing?”
“We haven’t talked about it. Hey, forget I said anything. It’s assumption on my part. Definitely don’t go saying anything to Luna. Those two probably have every intention of being together forever.”
“You just don’t believe it’ll happen.”
“It’s a theory. Forget about it.” He slowed the cart at the Shoals Club entrance and pulled out his membership card to show to the person standing sentry. Once the attendant glanced at the piece of plastic and nodded him through, we bounced high over the speed bumps leading to the parking lot.
After parking, he rushed around to my side to open the door for me, just like a gentleman. Of course, like a southern floozy, I’d already half opened my door and had one leg out so I sort of straddled half the seat. He didn’t seem to notice, but simply held the door and then closed it.
Inside Aqua, the ritziest restaurant on Haven Island, as we waited for the hostess, I remembered the one thing I needed to say. “Before I forget, thank you again for having your friend help me. He’s been amazing.”
“No problem at all.”
We were seated at a table in front of a window with a spectacular view. An array of yellows and pinks with hints of lavender colored the horizon, and all signs of the nearby storms had dissipated. Storms bypassed us all the time on the barrier islands.
The thin brunette who approached our table smiled in recognition. I introduced Kathleen, an old colleague from my bartending days, to Gabe.
“Nice to meet you. Are you visiting?” She zeroed in on the new meat, essentially forgetting my presence.
“No. I’m an island resident.”
“Oh. I’m surprised I haven’t seen you around. I thought I knew everyone.” She fidgeted with her notepad.
“Do you live on the island?”
“Sometimes. My parents have a place here. I also have an apartment in Wilmington.”
Kathleen, I remembered, lived a carefree life. Her parents did force her to get a job for spending money.
I breathed in deeply and stretched my fingers out wide beneath the table as they discussed Wilmington. Favorite things to do—or, well, the best bars. Flirting came naturally to the two of them, to the extent I considered suggesting Kathleen take my place at the table. Maybe my assessment wasn’t fair, but they did have a lot in common. It turned out she’d gone to undergrad at Penn, and he had friends who’d also gone there. The name game didn’t derive a common friend, but she shared that she also taught surf lessons on the weekends, and then they discovered our mutual connections, Tate and Luna. I finished my glass of water before Kathleen had gotten around to taking our order.
When she left to get our wine, Gabe leaned over the table in a conspiratorial fashion. “Do you not like her?”
“Kathleen?” I squeaked. “Yeah, she’s great. Nice girl. Worked with her a few years ago.”
He leaned back and draped his arm over the back of the empty chair next to him, too cocky and full of himself to take up the space of only one chair. “I got that part. You didn’t say a word.”
“I wanted to let the two of you get to know each other. You seemed to hit it off.”
He leaned forward again and placed both elbows on the table with an annoying smirk planted on his too-good-looking-for-his-own-good face.
“What?”
“You’re jealous. I hadn’t pegged you as the type.”
“I am not.” The heat cranked up, and I fanned myself, hoping my cheeks hadn’t turned red. If I blushed, it would give him way too much ammunition. “I need to go to the restroom.”
When I reached the bathroom, I discovered that, as feared, my cheeks radiated a horrid shade of magenta. And as luck would have it, I’d left in such a hurry I didn’t bring my clutch, so I had nothing to pat down the oily complexion shining back at me. Fuckety fuck.
I snagged a paper towel and blotted away. Get hold of yourself. Yes, he’s a good-looking guy. He’s been nice to you. But you aren’t exclusive. If he chooses Kathleen, or another girl like her, that’s okay. And Kathleen’s gorgeous. You can’t blame him. What did you expect? You made him basically beg for this date. And now he’s gone on a date, and of course he’s going to lose interest. You have to get your expectations set. You know better. Be strong.
The bathroom door swung open with my index finger mid thrust, scolding my reflection. The older woman gave me a funny look, and I waved my hand around wildly.
“There’s a fly in here.” Smooth, always smooth. With one last gulp of air, I returned to the table to finish the disaster of an evening.
Gabe held my phone up to me as I sat back down in my chair.
“I hope you don’t mind, but your phone started ringing. I lifted it out of your bag so I could put it on silent. This guy seems to want to reach you badly. He’s called a few times.”
I glanced at the screen before dropping it into my clutch.
“Sorry about that.”
“Is that part of the job?”
“Part of…? Oh, no. Ben’s an old friend. He’s been nagging me about coming to his bachelor party. He doesn’t seem to want to take no for an answer.”
“Well, if he’s inviting you to his bachelor party, you must be good friends. Where’s the party?”
“Louisiana. My home town. A small town I can promise you you’ve never been to.”
“I can’t say I know much about Louisiana. I’ve been to New Orleans.”
“That’s probably the only place in the state worth going to.”
“So, no plans to move back?”
“No.” Eager to change the subject, I held up my now full glass of wine. “Shall we toast?”
He held up his glass and beat me to the toasting punch. “To an unforgettable first date.”
“You’re a smooth one, Mr. Chesterton. Suave and debonair. I bet you have all the ladies eating out of your hand.”
“I know how to treat women well. I enjoy getting to know people. All kinds of people. And I have to say, I don’t think I’ve ever had the honor of getting to know someone quite like you.”
My throat closed up as I pushed my ribs in and out, forcing myself to breathe. The guy was seriously way too smooth. He leaned forward, and I slid my chair back a notch, feeling a bit like prey with a predator lurking, sizing up the kill.