Grant

 

 

 

Poppy still sleeps, her naked chest rising and falling as the first dewy rays of sunlight begin to creep across the cream colored carpet of my bedroom.

She shifts, head tilting to the side away from the crawling light and towards my chest. As if she senses me resting only inches away, she burrows into me with a soft, sleepy little sigh. I wake before her every day. I treasure these few minutes before she wakes when I just gaze upon her. After her eyes open, she’ll shy away from the attention.

I softly trace my fingers over her bare shoulder, across the ridge of her collarbone and up the soft flesh of her neck. A moan parts her plump pink lips, eyes still closed, though her face tilts away slightly, giving me more neck to stroke.

As my fingertip runs back over her jaw, her bleary brown eyes crack open. When our gazes meet, a soft smile crosses her mouth.

“Good morning.” I whisper, greedily stealing a kiss. I take all I can get from her. 

“Is it time to get up?” She twists slightly to peer at the clock, but I softly twine an arm around her and keep her pressed flush against me, unwilling to give up the warmth of her body.

“You can rest for a little while longer.”

“I want to get there early.” She smiles, happiness in her eyes making my heart skip a beat.

She kisses me again excitedly before slipping free of my embrace and sliding her legs out from under the silky sheets, padding naked across the room to the closet. She grabs a rose hued, powdery sundress and hangs it on the door of the closet before her. She stands back, hands on her hips, admiring the flowy fabric of the thigh length dress.

I watch her dance around the closet as I stay reclined on our cozy bed. She digs out a pair of white strappy sandals to go with her outfit and messes briefly with her hair in the mirror, imagining how she’ll style it. The whole time my eyes follow her movements, something wells up in my chest so painful and real it feels as though it threatens to burst within me if I don’t open my mouth and let it free.

She turns to me with another perky grin as I sit up and move to the edge of the bed, my legs dangling over the side. I run a hand over my heart, feeling it beat away beneath my fingertips.

“Are you going to get ready? Miki’s graduation is only in a few hours.”

“Poppy, there’s something I have to tell you.” I reply quietly, almost faltering at the sheer brilliance of her beautiful, inquisitive eyes on me. Her lips pucker, worried, and she slides closer to twine her arms around my neck. I pull her into my lap, letting my fingers trail up and down the length of her spine, feeling the shiver that reels softly through her back.

“Is there something wrong?” She asks softly, resting her forehead against my temple, “Are you feeling okay?”

I close my eyes, just relishing the warmth of her body against my own, the softness of her hands, the sigh of her breath.

She is everything to me. It’s only been two months and yet she has ingrained herself so deeply in my soul without trying.

How do I express that?

Does she even feel the same?

I lift my head, cradling her face in my hands. I want so badly to tell her those three little words, words that I value and cherish so deeply, words that she deserves. I try to force them up my tongue but they’re so foreign and strange in my throat that I can’t seem to convince my lips to part.

She smiles, ever patient, running her hands through my sleep messed hair.

Just as I finally work up the nerve to move my tongue, her cell rings from the bedside table. She glances towards it, then back to me with a shrug.

“It can wait.”

I shake my head, courage dwindling like a stream in summer heat, “No. Go ahead. I’ll be the one to wait.”

She grins, tilting my head back in her hands to softly run her lips against my own before she bounces from her lap and lifts up the phone.

“Good morning, Miki!” She cries, excitement flowing from her as she bobs up and down on the balls of her feet, “We were just getting ready to head over to your graduation-”

“Oh.” She pauses, her eyes straying to the dress she’d so carefully selected for the event, then back out the window, “Well. I guess- Oh… oh! Ok! See you soon!”

Poppy hangs up, clutching the phone to her chest as she turns towards me. Her eyes are perplexed, but hopeful.

“Is she graduating?” I ask, sliding off the bed and towards the woman. The light from the nearby window makes her glow like a goddess. 

“Technically, yes.” She replies thoughtfully, chewing her lip, “But she says she doesn’t want to walk. It’s a waste of time.” Poppy doesn’t seem particularly pleased with that explanation, but arguing with Miki had never gotten anywhere before.

“I guess that means Mikayla didn’t make it as valedictorian?”

A pang of pain flashes through my fiancée’s eyes and I grimace, wishing I’d chosen more careful words, “I’m sorry, I didn’t think that through.”

I knew as well as Poppy did that her little sister had been skipping classes. It seemed like every day Poppy got a call from the school, one of those automated ones stating Miki had never shown up to class.

“I’m just glad she’s graduating.” Poppy murmurs, forcing a smile on her face as her eyes drop to the ground, “That’s a step in the right direction, isn’t it?”

“Of course. And she’s young, Poppy. She’s going to make mistakes. You just be you and she’ll eventually find her path with your support.”

A smile, real this time, crinkles the edges of her brown eyes as she sighs and wraps her arms around my neck.

“She wants to meet us at the diner in an hour.”

“The one where you used to work?” Poppy had taken me there for pie a few weeks ago after a work event, but the woman who served us could barely tell us the daily specials over the blubbering of her tears when Poppy told her we were planning a wedding.

Poppy nods cheerily, eyes flickering towards the pretty pink dress hanging at the front of the closet. She’d spent at least two hours at the boutique trying to find just the right dress for her reunion with her sister. They’d barely texted and hadn’t seen one another since the day Poppy left her apartment and moved in with me.

It’d been painful on my future wife, but she’d carried her stiff upper lip well. My heart hurt for her, and I did all I could to support her along the way. But I knew there was a void in her heart that could only be filled by her little sister. I knew she was dying to see Miki again.

“I guess I didn’t need that.” She giggles, “Sorry for dragging you all the way downtown for it.”

I grin, running my hands through her long curls, “Wear it today. I want to show you off.”

She blushes, shaking her head, “It’s too nice for the diner…”

“You won’t even wear it for me?” I playfully tease, pushing her back onto the bed as she giggles and reaches out for me as I approach, “Can’t I do anything to convince you?” I hum, mouth descending on the curve of her breast.

The whole world melts away as the soft cry of her pleasure echoes in the room.

 

~~

 

“I still can’t believe you’re getting married!” Jane cries, one hand pressed to her heart as she desperately blinks away more tears.

I shift in the booth, drumming my fingers on the table. Of course Jane doesn’t know we’re getting married to save my position in my company - I have a feeling her excitement for Poppy would be a bit different then.

The waitress leans forward as quick as a snake striking its prey, her palm pressing into the smooth table in front of me as I jerk my eyes up to meet her narrowed stormy grey ones.

“You hurt my baby girl and I will hurt you.” She hisses, her voice dripping with severe warning as she steps backwards and straightens, smoothing out the wrinkles in her checkered red uniform, “Now, I’m gonna go get you sweeties some coffee!”

As Jane dances away, Poppy gives a nervous giggle and takes my hand in her own, “She’s, err, got a way with words, doesn’t she?”

I adjust my tie, raising an eyebrow and shaking my head as the front door of the diner jingles happily and swings open

Poppy twists in the booth to gaze behind us, the excitement in her eyes melting away as both Miki and David approach.

“She didn’t mention she was bringing him…” She murmurs under her breath, hiding a pout as she pats her lips with a napkin.

 “Hello, Mikayla.” I greet them with a smile, wrapping an arm around my fiancée’s shoulders, “Hello, David.”

He gazes at me steely black eyes, not responding as he and Miki glide into the booth across from us.

Jane cries out in happy surprise, rushing over with two sloshing coffees and planting them down.

“Oh, my little Miki! I haven’t seen you in months! Oh, look at you, dear. Skin and bones! I’ll get some pie!”

The girl did look thin, the stained blank tank top hanging off bony shoulders. Her pretty gold eyes were glassy.

“I’ve missed you, Miki!” Poppy says suddenly, springing back from her disappointment that David had joined us for brunch, “How’ve you been?”

“Fine.” The teenager responds quietly, giving a tiny smile. Her eyes shift to me and the arm I have wrapped around the brown eyed woman, “Just the boss, huh?”

“It, uh, became more than that, I suppose.” Poppy blushes, “Have you been working at the car wash?”

Miki nods, her limp hair falling forward over thin shoulders.

“Nice…” Poppy clears her throat, her hand finding mine beneath the table. She’s floundering for conversation but she’d been looking forward to this too much for me not to step in and try and get some communication flowing between the sisters.

“So, you didn’t feel like walking for graduation today?” I ask, giving Poppy a squeeze, “It’s a pretty big event, don’t you think?”

“It’s a waste of time.” David interjects with a shrug, “Besides those people don’t really care about you. Right, babe?”

Again, Miki gives a listless nod.

“Your teachers loved you.” Poppy frowns, “Way more than they did me, anyway. I was too quiet.” She blushes, grinning at me, “But you should’ve heard them gush about Miki. And your friends…?”

“They’ve got like a thousand students, you really think they even really noticed Mikayla?” David scoffs, rolling his dark eyes. With his black hair and black eyes, his sallow skin makes him look like a vampire, sucking out everything good about the love-struck teen at his side, “No one makes real friends in high school.” David glares at me as he speaks, his fuming gaze shifting towards Poppy, “Plus, I’m the only one who’s ever really looked after her.” Poppy freezes at his words, going stiffens under my arm.

“Hang on now.” A scowl forms on my mouth as I tighten my hold around my future wife, “You better treat her with respect. Both of these women here.” I add, gesturing towards a shrinking Miki.

Jane reappears suddenly with a tray full of different fresh baked, steaming pies, sliding them across the table between all of us.

“How are you dear?” She asks Miki with a beaming grin, “Are you excited for your sister’s wedding?”

Miki’s already pale face goes stark white as she stares at Poppy in shock, “Wedding?” She echoes, “You’re getting married?”

Jane blinks, tucking a nervous hair behind her ear and glancing over her shoulder a nonexistent table who appears to desperately need her attention, “Oh my way!” She calls, scurrying off from the destruction she’d caused.

 “Miki, I wanted to tell you in person! You’ve just been so hard to-”

“I can’t believe this.” Mikayla interrupts, holding up her hands, “This is total bullshit. I can’t believe you didn’t tell your own sister about being engaged before you told a fucking waitress! You didn’t even tell me you’d moved out! I tried to come home after school one day and you were just gone?!”

Poppy lurches forward, reaching out to take her sister’s hand, “You’re right, I should’ve told you first but you barely answer my texts! And I called you and left a voice mail about the move!”

“You were so right, David.” Miki mumbles, tears in her eyes, “They really don’t care about me at all. No one does.”

“That’s what I’ve been telling you, babe.” He responds, curling his arms around Mikayla as though he’s a boa constrictor, slowly crushing the life out of her, “I’m the only one you’ve really got. Aren’t I?”

Tears fall down Miki’s cheeks as she nods, “I just want to leave.”

“I hope you’re happy.” The black eyed man spits bitterly as he climbs out of the booth and pulls Poppy’s sister out behind him.

Without saying goodbye or meeting either of our startled stares, Miki weakly lets David guide her with a harsh hand from the diner. From behind the counter of the diner, Jane watches them leave with sad eyes.

Though I expect Poppy to run after them, she doesn’t move. Maybe she’s come to realize how useless that is. Maybe she’s just tired of the fighting.

 “I hate him.” Poppy whispers to no one in particular, staring emptily at the spot where her sister had sat only seconds before, “I know I shouldn’t blame him. I know this isn’t all his fault. I know I probably have a hand in this… but God do I hate that man. I hate what he’s done to Miki. I can’t say a single thing anymore, I can’t do a single thing anymore, that doesn’t set one of them off.”

Slowly she tilts her head to look up at me, her eyes churning with anger and loathing and despair.

I swallow thickly, eyes closing. I hadn’t wanted to tell her what I knew - but at this point it was a necessity.

“Poppy, there’s something I have to tell you.” I say slowly, releasing her so that I can rest my elbows on the table, “And fair warning… You’re not going to like this at all.”

She stares at me quietly, her hands slowly folding tight in her lap.

“I should’ve told you this before but I thought… you were so upset about it that I decided to give him a chance.”

“…Him?”

“David.” I reply grimly, running a hand through my hair, “There’s something about him that you need to know.”

She goes rigid in silence, her eyes searching my own as though she can draw the truth from them quicker than my lips can spill it.

“David was the one driving the car that killed Talia, Poppy. He was the drunk driver back then.”

She claps a shocked hand to her mouth, eyes going huge. She stares towards the door that Mikayla has vanished out of then back to me.

“What… Why didn’t you tell me?” She cries, “How could you hide that? My sister is dating a murderer?!”

“It was ruled accidental. He went to my ridiculously expensive and exclusive high school, Poppy. His family is made of money - maybe even more than mine. They hired the best lawyer in the town to get him off scot-free and it worked. But he lost everything from that. He was completely cut off. I don’t think he’s even spoke to his parents in years.”

“I wonder if she knows…”

“I doubt it.”

Poppy stares down at her hands, tears pooling in her eyes.

“What am I going to do? I just… I just don’t know what the right thing is.”

“We’ll get through this together.” I whisper back, pressing my lips against her forehead, “We can figure this out.”

“Should I tell her? She probably won’t even listen to me now.”

“Only you can decide that.” I reply quietly, “But I’m here for you, no matter what happens.”

She turns a grateful smile up towards me, leaning into my side.

I wrap my arms around her and squeeze as tight as I can, as though I’m going to pull her right into my own body so that we meld into one single being.

“We should leave.” She sighs, “I think I need a nap.”

I chuckle, grabbing the boxes of pie and helping her from her booth. Jane reappears, running over to wrap her arms around Poppy. The hug lingers, tight and comforting.

“We all know you’re doing the best you can, sweetie.” She whispers in Poppy’s ear, giving me a wink, “Have a good afternoon, now.”

Poppy kisses the woman’s cheek, “You too.”

Together, we walk outside, squinting in the brightness of the afternoon.

In front of us on the sidewalk stands a person I can’t see through the swirling black dots in my eyes. When we try and step around them, they move so that they remain obtrusively in our way.

Poppy rubs an eye, tilting a curious head as she takes in the damaged woman with hollow eyes and a mole that dances upon on her upper lip as she speaks.

“Hello, Grant.” She murmurs quietly, “How have you been these last few months?”

I wrap an arm around Poppy, frowning at the stripper in surprise.

What was she doing here? I’d never thought I’d see her again, not after those hazy evenings with Eli that I’d had zero inclination to repeat since Poppy had come into my life.

“Kitten.” The woman announces, eyes narrowing on Poppy dangerously as her hand extends forward. As Poppy slowly shakes her hand, Kitten continues, “I’m the one carrying your fiancé’s child.”