Poppy's Fall

Chapter 13

Hi everyone, 

I apologize for the delay.  I was away for work and wasn't able to do much writing.  Here's Chapter 13.

Thanks for your patience!

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Ryan left Poppy to explore a bit of Galway while he was in a lawyers’ office with his father.  As they were signing papers to officially move the family business from his father’s into Ryan’s name Poppy walked along cobblestone streets and took in the ambiance. 

Galway was…cute.  Certainly not New York but still pretty, nice.  It made her think of being in a colorful medieval town and any second she might see knights on horses riding down the lane.  She could picture Ryan here all chivalrous, helping damsels in distress.  If she thought about it, he was, quite frankly, almost too good for her.  Not to say that she was a bad person, but she was likely more rebellious than he was.  He was wholesome, traditional, a true gentleman.  Handsome, a damn good kisser and would treat you like a queen her mind added.  A sly smile spread on her lips at the thought of Ryan in her bed.  She’d bet he was more than a good kisser.

Focus Poppy, she thought.  She glanced at her watch and decided to return to a small bench outside the lawyers’ office to wait for Ryan.  She knew he would be done soon and didn’t want him to go searching for her as he had mentioned grabbing lunch and taking her to see Eyre Square which she understood to be a shopping area.  That she could get onboard with. 

Along the way she swore there was a pub at every corner.  It was the kind of lively scene she could really get into.  She delighted when she turned onto a street she hadn’t been down yet.  No vehicles were allowed, streamers and fairy lights were hung from building to building and there was a joyful air.  It truly felt like she had walked into a festival.  Musicians were scattered here and there, shops had their doors open beckoning people in to discover new treasures and food carts with anything you could imagine dotted the cobblestone street. 

A man tipped his hat at her as he walked by.  And all Poppy could do was stand there feeling like her head was on a swivel.  The closest food cart to her had hand pies both savory and sweet.  Walking by it smelled divine.  Up ahead was a fiddler playing lively jigs as his toe tapped.  He humbly thanked anyone who dropped a coin or two in the open case at his feet.  On her left a pub was opening its doors, ready to welcome the lunch crowd and on her right a man with a flower cart smiled as he handed a pretty, black-haired woman a single red rose.

I could come here during my lunch breaks, thought Poppy.  She was sure she could find office space nearby.  Ballyvaughan wasn’t far from Galway, maybe Ryan could be persuaded to move to the city if she found a place by the water. 

Poppy halted abruptly turning to face a wide shop window where she could faintly see her reflection.  She was wearing dark blue jeans, knee-high boots and a oversized coat.  Her hand came up to feel the tips of her chestnut colored hair.  When did she become this person?  She let a guy get under her skin and ran away when she usually faced things head on.  She let herself fall for another guy and in a short time was making a case for herself to stay when she didn’t even want any of it…she didn’t right?

                                                                                                *** 

“Is there anything wrong?” Ryan asked Poppy as they rode back to Doolin in silence. 

After his meeting he met up with her, noticing a change straight away, but he couldn’t quite figure out what, if anything, had happened and she sure wasn’t offering any explanation.  Lunch had been quiet, shopping at Eyre Square had been worse and when he suggested they call it an early day she agreed whole-heartedly. 

“No, why do you ask?” Poppy answered.

“You don’t seem like yourself.” Ryan took his eyes off the road for a second to glance at her. 

How would you know who I am, Poppy thought but didn’t voice out loud.  “I think my all-nighter with Ellie is finally catching up to me.”

Ryan nodded.  Of course, that had to be it.  She had slept a bit on the way to Galway but it hadn’t been nearly enough.  “I’ll get you to the B & B so you can rest.”

Now she felt awful.  Ryan wasn’t an i***t and clearly could tell something was up.  While she was indeed exhausted she really was just trying to figure things out but she didn’t want to tell him that. 

                                                                                                *** 

Finally, in her room, Poppy drew the curtains and dropped into her bed sighing in contentment when her head hit the pillow.  She reached to turn off the lamp when she spied the note on the table beside her bed.

Kyle phoned for you. would like you to call him back

Poppy sat straight up reading the note three times to make sure she wasn’t seeing what she wanted to see.  She threw her door open and flew downstairs in record time only stopping when she was in the middle of the kitchen.  Mrs. Callaghan was outside putting clothes on the line and it looked as though she would be there for a bit with a basket still full.

With a shaking hand Poppy lifted the receiver from the moss green wall-phone and dialed his number, surprised she hadn't forced it out of her mind.  One ring, two rings, three rings...

“Hello?”

For a second, she was mute.  His voice brought back so many memories.  She should be so angry with him, but her feelings got the best of her.

“Hello?” Kyle said again.

“Hi” was all Poppy could croak out.

“Poppy?”

“Yeah, sorry, must be a bad connection.” was all she could muster.  She could picture him sitting up when he heard her voice.

“It’s not what you think.” Kyle said immediately.

“What isn’t?” Poppy could feel herself becoming defensive.

“After I left your apartment I got an emergency call and had to leave.” He explained. “I didn’t even have time to send a text.  I grabbed my stuff right away and left with Kaley.”

“Kaley?”

“Yeah, from work, you’ve met her before.”  Kyle sounded almost exasperated by the question.

Poppy had met her.  She remembered the perky blonde from when they had all gone out for drinks the week before this whole mess.  Poppy recalled seeing the disappointment on Kaley’s face when she saw Kyle had brought her but thought she had misread it.  The girl had been polite but cold toward her and she swore she heard Kaley tell Kyle that he was acting different when Poppy was around.  Then again, she had been drunk and possibly had misheard.  That incident flew right out the window the night they slept together. 

Kyle kept going. “She was already on her way to pick me up.  Then I realized I left my charger at home and my phone was dead.  I was finally able to get your location from Marley.  I’m so sorry for the misunderstanding.”

He sounded sincere and he had never given her a reason to be suspicious.  What an i***t she had been and right now she wanted to throttle Agnes for putting doubt in her mind.  She should have waited for Kyle to explain before jumping to any conclusion.

“When are you coming home?”