Chapter 5 #2
With her head down, Poppy mumbled thanks to Bennett for the dance and quickly scurried off the dance floor and back to the front door.
That was where she stayed for the rest of the party.
Most of the guests were gone by midnight.
The catering staff had already cleaned up food and were loading their vans when Mrs. Blaibe reappeared.
"Poppy, if you can, we still need to pack all of the gifts we received tonight in Mr. Carrington's vehicle. Are you still good to help us with that?"
Nodding yes, Poppy asked, "Can I run upstairs and grab my tennis shoes? My feet are killing me."
Mrs. Blaine gave Poppy her first genuine smile of the night. Chuckling, she said, "Of course. Go now and be back in five. I will have you some help."
As Poppy hobbled back to their apartment, she thought perhaps the party lady was not so scary after all.
Poppy quickly changed her shoes. Her feet rejoiced as she mourned the extra height the heels had given her. Racing back to the sleigh, Poppy realized she had forgotten her jacket. Not wanting to upset the caterer, Poppy decided she could brave the cold and get through it.
When she got to the front of the house, Bennett's red Jeep was parked in front of the sleigh. He had already put down all his seats and was loading his car with the bikes and larger toys first.
Poppy had been so busy inside she had not had a chance to see how many toys had been donated. It was actually shocking. Several hundred toys had been collected.
Turning to Bennett as he finished putting a bike in the back, Poppy asked, "What should I do first?"
"I'd start by putting on a coat. Aren't you freezing?"
"Not yet. I forgot it and did not want Mrs. Blaine to be mad if I took too long getting back."
Shaking his head, Bennett immediately removed his coat jacket and handed it to her.
"No, I can't," replied Poppy, shaking her head.
"You will freeze otherwise. Put it on. We have a ton of toys to load before they come for the sleigh. The guy should be here any minute. They don't like to leave it out if rain is in the forecast."
Poppy knew that rain was predicted to begin around 6:00 the next morning.
Seeing she had no other option, she put on his jacket that hung on her like a curtain.
But it was warm, and it smelled like him and his sheets.
For the next half hour, they worked together, loading the toys.
They had just finished when the sleigh folks showed up.
To Poppy, it was crazy. It was the middle of the night, but when rich people wanted something, money spoke.
It was after one in the morning, but you would have thought it was one in the afternoon for all the people cleaning up and running in and out of the house.
Poppy knew the next day would be more of the same as they broke down the tent, dance floor, and tables.
She was not looking forward to that and was so tired that she wanted to lie down and sleep.
She was just about to return Bennett his jacket when he asked, "I need to run these toys over to a warehouse where they are going to sort them beginning early in the morning. Any chance you would want to come and help me?"
It was as if someone had reignited her; Poppy was suddenly wide awake and full of energy at the thought of getting in Bennett's Jeep and going anywhere with him.
Turning to the caterer, standing on the front steps looking like a movie director directing a complex movie, Poppy called out, "Mrs. Blaine, will you tell Gran that I am going to help deliver the toys and will be back shortly.
" The caterer gave her a look that said she did not think that was a great idea.
But to her credit, she said nothing. Just nodded and gave Poppy a thumbs-up.
Once they were in the car, Poppy asked, "Now, where exactly are we going?" She was so excited she could feel every nerve ending in her body. She felt like she was buzzing.
Turning to look at her as he drove, Bennett said, "My dad owns the warehouse where the toys are stored.
Tomorrow, a group of community volunteers will come to organize the toys and distribute them.
As late as it is, I would much rather bring the toys over now than have to get up at the crack of dawn and do it.
I appreciate your help. It will make it go so much quicker. "
Poppy just nodded. She had no idea what to say. She had never been in a car with a boy. And Bennett was so much more than a boy. He was a man. A man she could not stop picturing naked. After all, she had drawn him enough to be able to do it very accurately.
Trying to make conversation, Bennett asked, "Why so quiet? What are you thinking about so deeply over there? I can almost see the wheels in your head spinning."
She wondered what he would say if she told him the truth about what she was thinking.
She'd bet he would be the one shocked and left speechless.
Turning to him and giving her a sweet smile, she said, "I think it is really great your family does this toy drive for the kids.
I was shocked at how many toys were collected.
I can't believe you got them all in the car. "
Laughing, Bennett replied, "Years of practice. If you get the big items loaded first, you can fit most of the smaller items around them. Just know that my dad gets a lot of political mileage from that party. It is not all for charity."
"What do you mean?" asked Poppy.
"You may not know this, but I will graduate from law school in May. My dad is already laying the groundwork for my future political career."
"You want to go into politics?"
"I want to make a difference in the world.
My parents have been grooming me for it my whole life.
Did you know I spent part of my junior year in DC as a page?
I only came home when it was time to start baseball.
The only thing I love more than politics is baseball. I was a good player, but not great."
"What position did you play?" asked Poppy.
"Pitcher. We won the state championship three years in a row. I also played at U of A for two years, but my arm gave out. Plus, I knew I did not have a career ahead of me in baseball, so I put down my glove and focused solely on school."
"Do you miss it?"
Giving her a look, Bennett replied, "You know you are the first person ever to ask me that.
Most people just say how much the team misses me or how I need to come back.
But, yeah, parts of it I do miss. I miss being part of a team and having a common goal.
I miss the feeling I got every time I struck a batter out.
Or the feeling of jubilation when you win a big game, and all of your buddies swarm the field and celebrate together.
Knowing I will never have that again. I miss all of that.
What I don't miss is the pain. Blowing out your rotator cuff and having surgery is no joke. I don't recommend it."
"Duly noted. I will be very careful about what I blow." As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Poppy wanted to suck them back in. Had she really just said that?
Bennett audibly gasped and said, "Wow. Okay, on that note, we are here."
He pulled into a dark warehouse. Bennett clicked the overhead remote, and an oversized garage door went up. They drove into the space and lowered the door behind them. "Stay in the car while I turn up the heat. I will be right back."
Poppy waited in the car. Bennett was gone just a few minutes. When he returned, Poppy got out. He opened the back door, and they started unloading. There was a long table on which they set the toys.
"Just put the toys anywhere. Tomorrow, they will sort them."
At first, it was freezing in the warehouse, but it got really warm very quickly.
"Wow. That heat really works," remarked Poppy as she took another toy to the table.
"Yeah, we have to keep the doors open during the day. It has to put out a lot of heat to warm the place with open doors. With the doors closed like tonight, it gets hot quickly."
"No kidding. I am almost sweating." Poppy went to remove Bennett's jacket to keep it from getting sweat on it. The jacket sleeve caught on her spaghetti strap. Not realizing this, Poppy gave the sleeve a yank, which snapped her spaghetti strap. And Poppy yelled, "Oh shit!"
Bennett snapped his head around to see what had caused her to yell out.
What he saw stunned him. Poppy stood before him, trying to get her dress back on, but part of her dress was still caught in the sleeve.
Her left breast was exposed for all the world to see.
It was the most beautiful breast he had ever seen, and honestly, he had seen his fair share.
But seeing her standing there with all her red hair around her shoulders in all her glory shot an arrow into his gut.
Poppy was working like a mad woman to get the dress pulled up.
Her motions were getting jerky and out of control, and the dress appeared to be ripping even more with each try.
Suddenly, Bennett was jarred out of his stupor.
Dropping the toy in his hands, he quickly untangled the jacket from the dress without looking at her any more than he had to.
He did not want to embarrass her further.
He could hear her starting to cry. With deft hands, he got the jacket free and got it back on her.
Pulling the front together and buttoning it, he said, "It's okay.
You are all good now." He softly kissed her hair and added, "Please don't cry. It is not a big deal."
With tears running down her face, Poppy looked at him and said, "Not a big deal? Not a big deal? What you must think of me? One minute I am helping you; the next, I am flashing you my tits."
Letting out a bark of laughter, Bennett replied, "Flashing your tits at me? Listen, Poppy, I have had my fair share of tit flashing, and that was not one of them. That was just a…wardrobe malfunction. Yes, that was what that was."