Page 21 of Spotlight on Poppy

The old woman chuckled and put her hand on Poppy's. "I see ye are frustrated, but ye should have seen Hannah and Graham when they came to see me the morning he arrived. I didn't have any answers for them and I'm afraid I don't have any for ye. Just --"

"Follow my heart. I know." Poppy's shoulders slumped as she looked at the woman. The woman smiled back a kind smile and gave her hand another little pat.

"Well, ye better be getting down to the theater."

"Right, well, I’ll see you later," Poppy said as she turned to leave. She walked out of the store, the bell tinkling over her head.Well, that was pointless, she thought to herself. She had hoped for an answer and got none.

Follow your heart, what kind of advice is that?

Poppy made her way to the theater. She was one of the first cast members to arrive. It gave her some quiet time to get ready for the show. Life had been chaotic recently, and she needed to center herself. Sitting on the stage she walked through the show in her head. Then she went down to the make-up room to start getting ready.

There was always a magic energy to opening night. There was buzz in the air that just radiated through everyone. As the cast started trickling in the magic buzz grew. After she had her make-up on, Poppy went to get into her costume. When she entered her dressing room there was a big bouquet of flowers sitting on her table. It was big and colorful, some people brought roses, but this bouquet had so many different kinds, even some poppies. She hoped they might be from Damien, but she kind of thought in the back of her head they were probably from her father. She looked at the card and felt a shiver.

To my leading lady,

Break a leg tonight, I know you are going to steal the show. It has been an absolute pleasure being the Seymore to your Audrey.

Josh

She couldn't believe he had gotten her flowers. She loved flowers. Maybe it was because of her name, but flowers were definitely her thing. Thinking about Josh made her smile. He was someone who had been around, just this reliable dependable great guy. She wasn't sure why nothing between them had ever happened, maybe it was because he dated Hannah a few years ago, but it wasn't that. He was always there, and she liked that.

Everyone was gathering for the cast meeting. Poppy's eyes scanned the crowd of people for Damien but didn’t see him. Her eyes did stop on Josh though. He looked different. He looked distracted. She wondered what was going on, maybe it was just opening night jitters?

As she walked over to the crowd, she did see a familiar face. One she had not seen in a couple weeks. There at the piano bench sat Ms. Maple.

"Alright everyone, I have an announcement. It seems as though Damien has been called back to the city. So, as sad as we are to see him go, we are happy to have Ms. Maple back with us." The director clapped her on the back and she smiled at everyone and she gave a little wave.

"So Damien just left?" The words were out of Poppy's mouth before she even had time to think about what she was saying.

"I'm afraid so. He was offered a job back in the city and he needed to leave."

He continued to go on and get everyone hyped up for the show, but Poppy was lost in her thoughts. She had been so sure Damien was brought to her by the love spell, but it never really felt right. He never really showed that he cared for her more than a convenience fuck, and in that department he wasn't great. The fact that he had never gotten Poppy off during sex should have been a red flag. But the fact that he seemed to hide what they were doing should have been a red fucking banner in the sky. Poppy was not something to be hidden away. Poppy lived her life out loud, she always had. Why on earth had she stopped for some mediocre Broadway star?

It was all because of that love spell. Well, that was done now. Poppy wasn't going to think about the spell anymore. Getting out of this town didn’t begin and end with Damien St. Cloud and shame on her for acting like it did.

It was time for her to do some major self-reflecting. She needed to figure out what it was that she wanted, and start taking steps to get it. Maybe she would stay in Mystic Falls, maybe she would leave, but sitting around and waiting for life to happen needed to be over. It was time she took charge and started steering her life and not just waiting to see which way the wind blows. ‘Follow your heart’ was crap advice when she didn’t even know what her heart wanted. It was time to figure it out.

"Alright, let's warm up those voices," Ms. Maple called from the piano. She started playing scales and everyone started singing. Poppy looked over at Josh, and he was watching her with an expression she couldn't quite read. He had been around Poppy her entire life, why is it that now Poppy felt acutely aware of him? She looked for him in rooms. She brought him muffins when he was sad. And right now, she wanted to go over and give him a big hug and thank him for the flowers. Where was all this coming from?

It was just about time for the curtain to go up. That feeling that buzz in the air was palpable. If there was ever a way to bottle and sell that energy that would be amazing. Everyone was at places in the dark, quiet wings backstage waiting for the overture to start.The magic and energy of an opening night is a high all actors and theater folk know well.

Poppy was jostled a little bit and a large hand settled on the small of her back. She turned, and there was Josh Turner, strong and steady. Poppy was just about ready to vibrate clear off the ground with nerves and pent up energy.

"Break a leg," he whispered in her ear.

"Right back atcha," she answered with a smile back as the opening chords of the overture began to play.

The show went well,and the cast’s hard work paid off. Curtain call was over, and they had just smashed opening night. The cast was bustling with energy. When the curtain closed Poppy nearly leapt into Josh's arms. His strong arms wrapped around her and picked her up off the ground.

"Great show, Poppy. You absolutely killed it!" he beamed at her.

"You too. I think that was the best we have ever performed." She smiled up at him, his arms still around her waist. The pull between them was intense. He ran his tongue over his lips and Poppy fought the urge to kiss him. She wanted to press herself into him until no space existed between them.

"Great show everyone! Go see your fans and then we have the Elbow Room tonight for a private cast party,” said the director.

The entire group cheered and made their way off the stage, but Poppy and Josh were still there, looking at each other, stuck in this moment.

"I think I better go find my family," Poppy said as she pulled herself out of Josh's embrace.

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