Freed by Fate

4

    Poppy awoke with a start. Sunlight was streaming through her open window, and with it, the draft of the cold morning came, creating goosebumps along her skin. Her head pounded and she could not remember how she got home last night. She could not even remember if last night actually happened; to her, it could have very well been a dream. She had never experienced anything as freeing as that, and she longed to return. 

    Her mind felt foggy and it was as if she swallowed a whole bunch of cotton balls. She reached over towards her water cup on her nightstand and drank as if her tongue had never touched a droplet of water in a year. When she finished her glass, she put it back down on to her stand, her hand brushing against paper. If she wasn't paying attention she would have missed the little note on her nightstand. She gingerly picked it up and read it, her heart slamming in her chest as her eyes stared at each word. 

    I need to see you again. Meet me at my booth tonight. You intrigue me. -Hayden. 

    She did not realize she was breathing heavily until she tried to calm down her beating heart. Even his penmanship was impeccable. Was there anything this man wasn't perfect at? she thought, dreaming of his face, his eyes, his lips. The touch of his hands on her body, what it would feel like to touch his body.

    Her mother's knock upon her door jolted her from her fantasy. She quickly shoved the note under the blanket just as the door opened. 

    "Sweetheart, good morning! I know you had a rough time yesterday in the fields so I wanted to let you sleep in extra today. Can you meet me in the kitchen in five minutes?" Her mother stood in the doorway with the sweetest smile on her face, and Poppy felt a pang of guilt for the last twelve hours. She thought to have been the worst daughter on the planet, lying and sneaking about when all her mother cared about was her wellbeing. She managed to give her a robotic nod, which satisfied Demona, and she left the room to wait in the kitchen.

    'You intrigue me.' Poppy peeked at the note under her blanket again. It looked as real as it could have been. She quickly opened up her underwear drawer and shoved the note under the clothes, knowing her mother would never find it there. 

    After getting dressed in her old, torn work clothes, she met her mother in the kitchen as promised. Demona frowned when she saw her daughter, and quickly rushed over to touch her forehead. "Honey, you look awful! Are you feeling sickly?"

    Poppy shook her head no. Though her head pounded, she knew better than to admit the cause of her ungodly appearance and why it was that way. "I will be ok, mother. I think it to be from yesterday; I believe I pushed myself a bit too hard without hydrating when trimming all of those hedges," she lied. She refused to meet her mother's gaze, guilt gnawing at her stomach.

    "My poor baby! I want you to take it easy today, ok? Make sure you drink lots of water," Demona fussed, "I know! You can help plant the mums into the pots with me. That doesn't require much physical exertion." 

    Poppy's heart sank as she took into consideration that she would be spending the entire day with her mother. Normally, the two worked well as a team, but after last night, she wanted space to heal her conscience. But there was no arguing when it came to matters of her health, and her mother knew best, so she nodded her head and prepared for one of the hardest mental days of her life thus far.

    Working side by side with her mom, Poppy tried her hardest to not think about Hayden. She could not help herself daydreaming. She envisioned what he would look like planting flowers, hands covered in dirt, brows narrowed in concentration. She pictured little beads of sweat dripping down his muscular chest, smelling like a pine forest. I am being ridiculous. I literally just met him and this is utter madness!, she thought, but he sure would be a sight for sore eyes laying shirtless in a garden. 

    She knew without even weighing the consequences that she was sneaking out to meet him tonight. Something deep inside her was begging for him, and she could not resist the temptations of the bar. She just hoped that the guilt of keeping this secret from her mother would not destroy her.

    "You're deep in thought today, my flower," Demona mused after working in almost content silence for a majority of the morning. 

    Poppy jumped, wide-eyed, then realized she was acting foolish, for her mother could not possibly read her dirty thoughts. "Sorry, mom. I was thinking of how beautiful these mums would look when fully bloomed," she lied. Demona flashed a proud smile in her direction, and Poppy could not help but think how naturally beautiful her mother truly was. 

    "You know, I was wondering if maybe we could decorate the front porch area with a pot or two of these when they are in full bloom?" Poppy asked, the idea sprouting from a fit of desperation to be convincing about her lies.

    "I love that idea, pumpkin. I am so grateful to have you here to help me, your creativity is divine. I believe you do have quite a knack for decorating. What would I ever do without you?" Her mother gushed, and Poppy believed her words. Demona had not lived a glamorous life, and she was quick to remind Poppy about it constantly. Her greatest gift in life had been her daughter, and if not for Poppy, she would not have anyone except her plants.

    While Poppy found that hard to fathom, she believed Demona. Though she did not know much backstory on her mother or her extended family, there was never any reason to doubt her words. As her mother used to tell her, the most important people in your life are there for a reason, thanks to fate. 

    A small voice in Poppy's head chimed in, Maybe it is fate that you met Hayden last night. She shook the thought away and continued working with her mother, trying to put the excitement of seeing him again out of her mind until later. And when later came, she could hardly control her anxious shivers as she snuck out of her mother's house for the second night in a row, towards the mysterious man with the icy gaze.