Page 24 of Spotlight on Poppy

He had been working at the inn earlier that day when he heard him talking on the phone in the dining room. Telling whoever he was talking to that he had ‘a stage five clinger’ and he planned on staying for opening night, hitting it one more time, and going back to the city. Josh saw red after that. They got into a confrontation and after he said some unspeakable things about Poppy, Josh lost it. His sister broke up the fight, kicked Damien out of the inn and he found a way back to the city.

“Do you guys want to play Karaoke Roulette?” asked one of their cast mates.

“Fun! I love when we do that!” answered Poppy. Josh smiled and nodded, glad to see Poppy happy and for the subject change from his hand.

“Number 876” calls out the DJ, “Mariah Carey Always Be My Baby. Who knows it?”

One of the do-wop girls, Keisha, took the stage and started to sing. The night went on like that, drawing random numbers and seeing who knew it. It was always a good time, sometimes people knew it and they rocked it, other times no one knew it, and someone had to fumble their way through. Either way it was fun.

As the night went on people talked about the show and congratulated each other. Josh heard lots of people wondering why Damien left early. Poppy was not among them though, which surprised him. He was happy about that because he had been worried she would be upset.

“Number 223, Leather and Lace by Stevie Nicks and Don Henley. A Duet! Who’s gonna sing this one?”

“I can get the Stevie part!” calls out Poppy. “You know I love Stevie Nicks.” She took the stage waiting for someone to join her.

Josh knew the song, but he waited to see if anyone else wanted to sing. When no one joined her, he stood up.

“Looks like Josh and Poppy are performing again.” called Alan, the DJ.

He looked up at Poppy who was smiling right at him. Climbing up on the stage he stopped and grabbed the second microphone. “Thanks, Alan,” he said as he took the mic from him. The music started and Poppy started singing her verse. When it was his turn, he thought this song might have been a mistake. It hit a little too close to home to his actual feelings for her and they weren’t acting. When it came to the part of the song they sang together, he was surprised when her hand slipped into his.

He looked over at her and all time seemed to stop. She was looking at him and singing right to him. The world around them fell away as they sang to each other. There was something different about this moment. It felt like the moment they shared in front of the stage before everything had gotten screwed up. When for the briefest moment of time he thought he might have a chance with Poppy before Damien and before everything that had happened.

When the song ended, they stood there for a moment, hands clasped. The pull of her magnetism was so strong it was taking all his strength to not pull her to him and kiss her perfect red lips. Her gaze held his, and he would swear she could feel it too.

The rest of the bar erupted into cheers as Poppy slowly turned to them, bring both of them back to reality. Poppy smiled at them and bowed. Josh watched her and they headed back to their seats.

“You two are so incredible together,” said Emma, one of their cast mates.

“She’s a great leading lady,” Josh agreed. “Let me get you another drink,” he said to Poppy as she sat down.

“Thank you,” she said with a look in her eyes he wasn’t quite sure how to read. He needed a moment after that, he felt overwhelmed with emotion.

The rest of the night went by fast. The cast was fun, Josh loved the family of The Little Theater on the Corner. This was one of the few places where he truly felt like he could be himself, but it was getting late, and he had to work tomorrow and another show in the evening.

“Hey, I think I’m gonna head home,” he said to Poppy.

“Wait for me, I’ll walk back to the theater with you,” she said. “I just want to say goodbye.”

She got up and Josh watched her as she made her way around the room, stopping to hug everyone and share a laugh. He was mesmerized, the way she would toss her head back and laugh out loud, seemingly without a care in the world. It lit a fire somewhere deep inside of him that maybe one day he could feel effortless joy like that.

“Ready?” she said as she made her way back to him stopping to grab her bag.

“Ready,” he said with a nod as he opened the door for her.

The temperature had dropped even further since they left the theater. He watched as she shivered in the cool night air. She was only wearing a lightweight jean jacket that she pulled tightly around her. He shrugged off his jacket and slipped it over her shoulders. Her breath caught with surprise when she realized what he was doing. She looked over at him with a small smile and pulled his jacket around her.

“Thank you. You are such a gentleman.”

“I try,” he said with a smile, trying not to feel uncomfortable in the moment.

“Ya know, I’m glad Damien wasn’t there tonight. It was much more fun this way.”

“I agree,” he said with a small chuckle hoping to hide just how much truth he felt in that statement.

“I’m not sure what I even saw in him,” she said.

Damien was the last thing he wanted to talk about tonight, but he was glad she seemed to be coming to her senses after the interaction he had with him today at the inn. He shook out his hand at the memory.

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