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“Poppy.” Her tone is filled with so much animosity she acts like I killed Fluffy, her cat. She picks up the menu, then sets it back down.
There is so much I want to tell her, but I can’t form the words, so I keep quiet. It’s better to remain silent than say something stupid.
She turns her eyes to Sophia. “Why is she here? Is this an ambush?”
Sophia shakes her head, and the waitress brings her food at this moment but she pushes it to the center of the table.
“Mom, this is ridiculous. You are disowning my sister, because she didn’t want to marry her ex?”
My mother completely ignores Sophia. The lines on her forehead deepen as she eyes me up and down in disgust.
“You want to disappoint the family even further? I can’t even stand to look at you. You bring shame to this family.”
I can’t help but shed a few more tears as they leak from my eyes, a huge-ass lump forming in my throat. Maybe she’s right. I do bring shame to this family, and not by not marrying Link, but I was always the kid who rebelled against her wishes. And I know deep down she loves me, but I need to stop fucking up.
“Ease up, Momma.” Sophia’s tone deflates. “She wanted to tell you that she’s engaged to someone.” A smile stretches across her face and she strokes my shoulder.
I wish her words would help ease the tension between my mother and me, but it doesn’t. My mother rolls her eyes and bangs her hand against the table. I’ve never seen her so pissed off.
“It doesn’t matter, it’s the fact that she called off a perfect deal for your father, and when your dad doesn’t get opportunities then I don’t. Poppy is a selfish bitch who’s only thinking about herself.”
People in the cafe stop what they are doing and glance at us. Embarrassment eats at me like a disease.
I want to scream at my mother, but I remain in my seat, putting my head down. This meeting isn’t going anywhere near what I planned, and it was a waste of time. All my dreams of us reuniting went out the window. I shouldn’t have wasted Sophia’s time setting this up.
At this point, I’m not going to get what I want. I should call off the wedding with Jasper, but I’m won’t because I need to keep my end of the bargain. It wouldn’t be right to leave him high and dry.
“He wasn’t treating her right, Mom. Don’t you care about her happiness?” Sophia snaps.
Her appetite must have returned because she pulls the plate back in front of her and digs the knife into the butter and smears it onto the croissant before taking a gigantic bite.
My mother laughs humorlessly. “Happiness? Marriage isn’t about rainbows, flowers, and love. It’s about business and wealth. It doesn’t make any sense to marry someone you love if they can’t provide you with a happy life.” She shakes her head. “You think I married your father because of love?Please.He does whatever he wants, and I do what I want. I got tired of working two jobs and struggling. This is a cutthroat world, you either sink or swim.” Her eyes snap to mine. “You, darling, are sinking.” She smacks her hand on the table again, this time the plates and cups rattle, and she glares at Sophia. “Don’t ever ambush me again, because I’ll disown you as well.” She sighs. “The only person who was born with an ounce of common sense is Jimmy. That’s it. Sophia, stop socializing with her, she’s making us look bad.”
Sophia pouts. “I’m not going to stop talking to Poppy, Mom. She’s my sister.”
“Fine. You want to mingle with trash, then that’s on you, but if we’re having a family outing, don’t you bring her name up.” Without sparing me a second glance, she says, “don’t ever contact me again, Poppy. You’re dead to me.”
As Mother gets up from the table and leaves, I burst into tears and Sophia wraps her arms around me. I can’t stop crying, no matter what Sophia does to try to soothe me. Why does my mom hate me for not doing what she says? Why can’t she love me the same way she loves Jimmy and Sophia? Is it because she has resentment toward my father, because he was a junkie? Is it because I look like him? I cry so hard my head throbs.
The waitress comes back to the table. “Are you okay?”
“She is. Can I have the check?” Sophia asks.
“Sure,” she answers, heading to the register.
“It’s going to be okay,” she coos as if she’s soothing a wounded animal. “Mom will come around, I promise.”
I doubt she will, because she didn’t give a shit about my engagement when Sophia mentioned it, but I shake my head. “You’re right.”
I try to put on a smile, but I know, deep down, things won’t be fine.
Poppy
Sadness burns in my chest. My feet hit the pavement and the cool breeze hits my face as I run through Central Park. I’m trying to shake the pain in my chest. The events of earlier today plays in my mind like a broken record. My mother fully rejected me and not allowing me get a word in. I want to try again with her, to get her to see what I plan, but the other part of me wants to move on with my life and call the wedding off. My mother is stubborn, and she’ll probably never accept anyone except for Link.
So I have two choices: go back to Link for her to accept me or continue with this marriage deal with Jasper and win her heart that way. I’ll stick to the latter. Link is not worth it. I have to keep telling myself that, otherwise I’ll end up going back to him—and I really don’t want to.
I don’t want to go out with Jasper on this date and play pretend, I want to go back to the penthouse and crawl in bed and yank the covers over my head.
