37. Chapter 37
Moore lugged my bags into the back of the SUV as Lynn and Daisy squished me into a group hug.
Although massively hungover, Daisy got dragged to the parking lot by Lynn for goodbyes.
Summoner shooed the girls inside before grabbing my face and kissing me with depths of passion I didn’t know existed.
When his lips left mine, I dropped into a bottomless abyss.
A pitch-black chasm where he was forever out of reach.
His eyes were glossed over, a listless green that made my heart ache.
I managed to make it through the airport and to the plane before I cried. My sobbing was so pathetic the flight attendant brought me a box of tissues, a chocolate bar, and a bottle of water before takeoff.
First class was a delight. I reclined my seat fully and cried myself to sleep. Although long, my flight was very comfortable. No other way to travel, besides private, of course.
Shay said she would pick me up from the airport. Of course, I was surprised as hell to see Jordan when I stepped off the escalator.
I’m going to kill Shay.
Jordan and I hadn’t spoken in weeks. Since his shitty text about quitting Popbyte, I’d taken to the avoidance part of communication. Dressed in khakis and a jacket, he looked woefully dumb. He had also grown whispers of a mustache which looked fucking awful. I’d tell him so later.
“She made me.” With a mutter, he answered my unasked question.
Look who got back together?!
Awkwardly, I tugged on the straps to my backpack as he tossed my luggage into the trunk. Thankfully, I didn’t have anything breakable in there, because Jordan did not have the precision Moore did.
An uncharacteristic sadness weighed down his usually conceited persona. He regarded me for a moment before cautiously stepping forward and pulling me into his arms.
“I fucking missed you.”
I was already a fucking mess of emotions and jetlag. I clutched his stupid jacket in my fists.
“You’re my best friend. I was so pissed you left Popbyte. That was our thing. Shooting the shit, eating muffins, being us. One day, everything is fine, and the next day you’re gone. I love you, Poppy. Why didn’t you give me a heads up?”
“I love you, too. I just needed to make moves for me in that moment. I wasn’t trying to hurt anyone.”
“I think we’re both dumbasses.” He laughed.
I laughed and rubbed my eyes. “Yeah, we’re dumbasses.”
A missing piece of the puzzle of Poppy slid back into place. He was an ass, but he was my friend. I missed him. We embraced for so long security asked us to move. Laughing, we jumped into the car and belted along to the latest Mountain Goats albums through stop-start traffic.
Back at my apartment, we sat together on the futon. I rested my head on his shoulder.
“So, tell me about your vacation.” He smiled.
“I’m sure Shay told you everything already.” I narrowed my eyes.
“Just the broad strokes.”
“Spain was amazing and I’m happy to finally have a stamp in my passport.”
“…Does Summoner treat you well?”
My eye bulged. “H-He does…How do you know?”
He pointed at the signed poster on the wall. “Sometimes I can be smart. I am a journalist after all…Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me, and Shay has no idea who he is, just your sugar daddy…When you mentioned interviewing him before, I, uh, I didn’t think you were serious.”
“I remember. The whole asshole thing you have going on.”
He squeezed my shoulder. “Yeah, I need to work on that.”
I smiled. “You do.”
“Again, I’m sorry. At the time, it just sounded so fucking farfetched!”
“I get that, but you didn’t have to crush all my hopes and dreams by declaring me unstable and basically insane.”
He blanched. “Shit. I said all of that?”
“Yes. But I’m in a forgiving mood. I just got back from Spain.”
“Rub it in, why don’t you?” He stuck out his tongue.
“Don’t worry, I will.”
We laughed.
“So, is he why you quit Popbyte? Work isn’t the same anymore,” he sighed.
I missed Muffin Mondays.
I shook my head. “No. I just wasn’t going anywhere at Popbyte. They burned me out.”
“How are you going to pay your bills?”
“I’ve a few weeks to figure that out. But in the meantime, I’m writing a book.”
“That’s awesome! Can I read it? I’ll be a beta reader, one of those people who gives you feedback.”
“Maybe? I need to finish it first. I’m kinda stuck at the part where the couple gets back together.”
He laughed. “Fiction or real life, that is the hardest part.”
“True that!”
Jordan had stopped by every morning on his way to work. He usually dragged my still-asleep ass out of bed, and we shared a cup of coffee before he headed to Popbyte.
Once he was gone, I plopped into my desk chair, smiled at my neat stack of Spanish romance novels, and made passable attempts at writing.
The lonely panging of my heart easily distracted me.
I missed Summoner and was counting down the days until I saw him again.
For some reason or another, our schedules never seemed to line up, so we mostly texted.
I missed him so much. I pouted, looked through our photos, and pouted some more.
***
Dad had been busy with his radio show, so I wasn’t able to see him until the weekend.
His neighborhood was throwing an end-of-summer block party I didn’t really want to go to.
The promise of free food lured me, but held onto the attitude of I’ll-get-there-when-I-get-there.
I wrapped up dad’s gift from Summoner in some leftover Christmas wrapping paper and left it on the kitchen table.
I couldn’t wait to see his reaction. I said a quick hello to Mom’s violin before heading outside.
The block party was in full swing. Outside, music played, kids ran around, and laughter filled the air.
The little neighborhood had become a community.
Not to say it wasn’t one when I was little, or maybe I just viewed it through smudged glasses.
Little Poppy always seemed to be imposing, in the way, when Dad needed someone to watch me while he worked late.
Shit was embarrassing. I waved to Mrs. Albert, who sat on her front porch.
I played with her grandkids when she babysat me occasionally.
My wave was polite, but I would never forget her spanking me when I was blamed for breaking her shelf of Black figurines.
It was her stupid grandson’s fault.
Around the corner in the small park, they had set up several tents and tables up in the grass.
I headed straight for the food tent and piled my plate high with fried chicken and a massive slice of cheesecake.
I didn’t see Dad, but I spotted Fetus and his messy white guy dreads alone at a table.
He was alone because he was weird. But I was weird, too, and Fetus was always good to me. I slid into a seat across from him.
“Poppy!” His eyes brightened at the sight of me.
“Hey ya, Fetus. How you been?”
“Good, good. Same old, same old. Dad told me you went to Spain?”
I said a silent prayer that Dad kept my secret to himself. Fetus’ face remained unassuming. I took a sip of water, relieved that Dad hadn’t blabbed to the whole world.
I nodded. “Yeah, it was great.”
“Glad to hear it.” He stroked his curling beard. “I’ll be getting in some new stock. I’m expecting you to come down and have a look.”
“Of course!”
Fetus told me about his new hobby of bird watching while I polished off my wings. Knowing nothing about birds, I was fine listening to him, and he was fine talking.
I knew of Dad’s neighbors, but I didn’t actually know them. Faces looked vaguely familiar as they walked by. I was content with Fetus in our own weirdo world.
I heard Dad before I saw him. His booming laugh was a homing beacon. I looked over and saw him under the DJ booth with a group of guys. He seemed relaxed, almost at ease with his friends. My brow creased. Outside of Fetus and random people on the internet, I didn’t think Dad had friends.
Hmmm…
I waved, and after a moment of flailing around, he finally noticed me. He headed over with a wide smile on his face.
“Gonna say hi to Dad,” I mentioned to Fetus.
Plate in hand, I met Dad halfway across the park. Dressed in a pair of New Balance with knee socks, he looked like the cosplay version of a barbeque dad. I held in my laughter.
“Baby girl!” He pinched my cheek.
“Hey, Dad.”
“Hey yourself. I’m glad to see you made it back in one piece.” He grabbed my fork and helped himself to a bite of my cheesecake.
“That, I did.”
“Did you have fun? Did…uh, did he take care of you? I mean, was, uh, was it…you know, acceptable?” he stammered.
My cheeks heated. “More than acceptable. It was amazing. He’s an amazing musician and a generous lover.”
Dad blinked. “Okay, I don’t want to hear any more about that.”
I giggled. I leaned against Dad’s side as he ate my cheesecake. A group of kids ran past. A little girl with braided pigtails and a princess dress smiled at him. I held onto his waist protectively.
My dad! Get your own!
I restrained myself from hissing at the literal child.
“…So, uh, this is different than the neighborhood I remember.”
“Yeah, a lot of families have been moving in, so they want to make everything more family-friendly by doing events like this. More family nights out and it takes-a-village stuff. They even got a parenting group going on at the community center.”
I couldn’t ignore the idle pang that hit my chest as I wondered if my path would have been different if these resources existed when I was young.
“…That’s good.”
“Yeah, it is.”