Chapter Text
Of course today was the day that Poppy had decided to turn down getting a ride to work with Erdene and they had gotten an unexpected snow storm. Well not fully unexpected but instead of the light dusting they were supposed to get, somehow 10 inches of snow had fallen that night. Of course it was also on a day where she needed to dress professionally and she couldn’t wear jeans. She did her best to dress warmly without having to carry too much extra with her, managing to only have to throw a pair of heels in to her purse she trudged through the snow in her winter jacket, a pencil skirt that she wore over fleece lined leggings (she would take them off at work) and her snow boots. It was the week before Christmas, it wasn't unusual for them to get snow but a snow this big, and this early on in the season, meant that the winter was going to be a very long and icy one.
She made it to work, only to find that Gil had closed the office that day. The email that she did not see was sent as soon as she had left her apartment. She didn’t hear her phone though go off through her thick earmuffs and coat hood. She stood slightly defeated in front of the office for a few moments before deciding to head to the bookstore/café that was around the corner. The shop was new and there was a new JoJo Moyes book out, the unexpected day off gave her the perfect opportunity to check out both.
The shop was quiet and warm and beautifully decorated for Christmas. The building itself was old and during restorations they had found an old stone fireplace that had been covered up. She remembered seeing an article about it in the paper, the bookstores unnamed owner wanted to preserve the history so he had paid a lot of money to get it working again. Not many people were there that day so poppy was lucky enough to find a big arm chair right by the fire to set her stuff down on. Poppy searched the bookshelves for the book, pleased that it didn’t take her that long to find. She made note that this shop was well stocked in Q.B. Noyouko books. Quincey had been working with her for the last 9 months and it was great to see a local shop support a local author. He had quickly become one of her best friends and even though he had finished his book for Mr. Lam, Quincey had agreed to sign a 5 year 15 book contract with Giant Goldfish.
She made her way to the coffee bar area of the store when she noticed a familiar face behind the counter. “Gyu? What are you doing here? How many jobs do you have?” He smiled at Poppy, “Well Mr. Quincey owns this place and with me being on body guard duty whenever Tora isn't around it's convenient to be close to the office.” Of course Quincey owned this place, poppy thought to herself. “What can I get you?” He asked her. She ordered a large hot chocolate with extra whip cream and made her way back to her cozy spot.
Before opening her book, she glanced out a window close by and noticed that it had started to snow even harder. It would be fine, she would wait out the storm and she would walk the few blocks to the subway station and then the additional 8 blocks back to her apartment. It would be fine.
She had briefly thought about texting Tora, but it had been a week since she had last seen him. It wasn't unusual, he was busy. What was unusual was that they had not spoken either. The first week of December they had gotten into a small argument about whether or not she could put up some Christmas decorations in his apartment. It had gone unresolved and the following week when she had brought decorations over. She was hoping that once he saw the decorations he would feel more inclined to let her. Especially when he saw the cute snowman stockings she had gotten to hang up on his lockers, and the sprig of mistletoe to hang in his kitchen doorway. It had ended with her attempting to slam the heavy metal front door of his apartment after calling him a scrooge. It was their first Christmas together and she was just trying to make it special for him.
She got 2 chapters into her book when her phone dinged.
Tora: Why the hell did you leave your apartment today? Quincey said Gil canceled work today.
She read the text and rolled her eyes. Gyu must have told him she was there.That was one way to break the silence of the past week.
Poppy: I didn’t see the email until I had already gotten to work.
Tora: What are you doing now? The snow isn’t going to let up any time soon.
Poppy: I am hanging out at that new bookstore, that apparently Quincey owns, near the office. Thanks for telling me by the way.
Tora: He wanted to keep it anonymous. How are you planning to get home?
Poppy: I’ll walk to the subway and take that. It will be fine Tora.
There was no answer, so she went back to reading her book. She was sure he was even more annoyed with her now. She glanced out the window again, it still hadn’t let up and she was sure there was another 4in of snow that had accumulated. She was sure though it would let up soon, the forecast had not called for it to last past 3pm that day. It was only 10 am now, she would hang around and read for a while longer and then head home.
She sat completely engrossed in her book. Gyu had come to check on her asking if she wanted a refill. She nodded and he brought it over to her. Other than that small distraction nothing could tear her eyes away from her book. She only looked up when she heard Gyu say, “Oh hey Big Bro.” She peaked around the back of her chair to see a snow covered and very grumpy looking Tora standing by the front door.