Chapter Text
The fan in the corner provided no relief; it’s oscillations only caused the conference room’s occupants to have the hot air blown into their faces as it made its passes. Annoyed by the warm breezes fluttering papers about, Poppy got up and unplugged the fan. She sat back down at the large table, opposite Quincey, where they were working on the last updates to his first stand alone novel to be published by Giant Goldfish. As temperatures outside climbed, tempers and concentration inside shortened. Poppy had caught herself snapping at the author as his attention waned, the boiling room making Quincey flustered and tired.
Outside the conference room, in the main office, Tora sat at Poppy’s desk while Jacob and Erdene worked at their respective stations. Their manager, Gil, was uncomfortable around Tora and tried to find reasons to be out of the office while Quincey and his bodyguard were in the building. Tora watched Poppy through the glass wall, her back to him as she leaned forward to point something out to Quincey. Her hair was pulled up into some kind of messy bun, leaving her neck exposed. Tora watched sweat bead near her hairline and follow the outline of her spine into the scooped neckline of her tank top. He let his mind wander, imagining his fingers following the perspiration down the curve of her back. He was pulled from his fantasy by Quincey’s sudden movement.
His sweat dripped from him, falling off his chin onto the notes in front of him, blurring the pen lines. Quincey had had enough, he pushed himself away from the table and peeled himself off of his seat. “I can’t work like this, it’s inhumane! Look at my papers, they are positively dripping with perspiration!” He grabbed the offending papers and shook them for emphasis. “When I say my novels are full of my blood, sweat and tears, it’s supposed to be figurative.” He complained.
Tora had come in to stop the dramatics but realized it was warranted in this instance. When he entered the small space, he was hit by the stagnant warm air. Although Quincey was spoiled, he wasn’t wrong, the conference room was far too stifling. He urged the two of them out, helping to collect papers on the way.
Poppy sat at her desk fanning herself, accepting the cool water that Tora had brought her from the small water tower in the corner before he turned to offer a cup to Quincey. “Ya both need to drink up. I didn’t realize it was hotter in there than here in the main office."
The main office itself currently felt like an oven. The building's ancient air conditioning units were unable to keep up with the suffocating heat wave that was presently causing discomfort throughout Narin City.
"Pops, this is untenable. No one should work in these conditions. We need to wait out the weather and then finish this.” Quincey complained.
“I’d love to, but we don't have the luxury of that kind of time, Quincey. This heat is projected to last well into next week past Christmas and we have to have all of these edits and revisions submitted by New Year’s Eve. We’ve already gone past our deadline once, we can’t afford to miss it a second time.” Poppy explained.
Quincey watched as Tora stared at Poppy, looking away as she caught his eye. They were driving him crazy, and by the pointed looks Erdene had shot him the past week, he wasn’t alone. These two, you could lead a horse to water, he thought. That had been part of the problem though, after the birthday party his father, Vincent, had pulled Tora off of Quincey’s bodyguard duty. When he was allowed to return to Quincey, the Lam project was finished and they didn’t need to make frequent trips to the office. When he’d questioned Tora why he didn’t just meet up with Poppy on his own, he mentioned something about wanting to respect her wish for independence and not being just another notch on a bedpost. He’d gathered enough bits of information between Tora, Gyu, Erdene and Poppy herself to piece together that they both had real feelings for each other and were holding themselves back to keep from hurting the other.
Since he had returned a few weeks ago to finish his first standalone novel with Giant Goldfish, Quincey had been doing his best to be a master wingman. He’d caught furtive glances between them but to the best of his knowledge not much else was happening. Quincey thought on it for a minute and then leaned forward to address her. "How are all of you at working remotely? I've been planning to spend some time at my lake house for Christmas and the New Year, would you want to go now?"
Poppy blotted the perspiration across her face. “That sounds amazing, Quincey, but I’m not sure if I can go, I’ve already bought train tickets to go see my Granny on Christmas.”
“It shouldn’t be a problem, Pops. It’s about 30 minutes outside of the cutest country town, called Moonbright. There’s a train station there, we can see about transferring your tickets to leave from there instead of Narin City.” Quincey told her.
Both Poppy and Tora flinched at the mention of Moonbright for different reasons, but only she spoke. “Oh that’s wonderful Quincey! My Granny is in Moonbright. I’ll call right now to see if I can exchange my ticket for an earlier date.”
Although Poppy and Quincey currently did not need Erdene and Jacob's assistance, he invited them along to get them out of the heat of the city too. It was decided that they'd all leave as soon as possible. Tora and Quincey would leave that night after attending a Christmas dinner for the clan. Jacob and his girlfriend Meg along with Erdene would catch the train together in the morning. The earliest Poppy could exchange her ticket was for the red-eye morning train the day after her coworkers were set to arrive.
He’d only been gone for a few minutes when Poppy received an email from Quincey full of his ideas for a Christmas extravaganza while they were together. He listed instructions of what everyone should bring and what they should be prepared for. He wanted to have a traditional Christmas with lots of activities leading up to it since they would all be there. Ever the professional, he had tried to balance the fun around the strict work schedule he and Poppy would have to keep to meet their deadline.
*****
Poppy packed her bags. She went through her checklist trying to remember everything she'd need for work, for Quincey's house and for Christmas at her Granny's. As she scanned the room for any objects she'd forgotten, her eyes landed on the open balcony door. She'd fallen asleep with it open a few nights before, to be woken up by Gyu calling to check on her. The heat wave had made her apartment feel hot and sticky with the humidity. She was worried about how bad the mold would be with her leaving everything all sealed up for a week. That wasn’t the only thing on her mind; she and Tora had been sneaking around for months.
Seeing each other was more infrequent than either one liked. The texts and calls that passed between them sustained Poppy until the next time they were able to meet. Physical contact had been limited to hand holding and the occasional kiss with both of them holding back in an effort to protect themselves and the other. But since Quincey had been back in the office, things had escalated. Seeing Tora so frequently was wearing on her resolve, and when he’d catch her when she was alone in a stairwell or supply closet and kiss her breathless, it was all she could do to compose herself and return to her desk as though nothing had happened. The idea of spending so much time together at Quincey’s had her blushing into the clothes she was folding.