‘It’s for an album I’m titlingA Walking Liability: the Story of Poppy.’
My jaw had dropped open. ‘Salman!’
‘Kidding, kidding!’ He held his hands up as if he was afraidI was going to attack him. ‘I don’t know, Pop, I just thought .?.?. you looked really nice. And I guess I just wanted to take a picture of you.’
He went silent then, looking down at the carpet, as if he was afraid he’d said the wrong thing. It made my stomach flutter. I knew how I felt, how I had been feeling for a while now, but the way Salman had spoken about me made me think that maybe I wasn’t the only one feeling things. I tested the waters by slowly reaching out to his hand and softly linking our pinkies.
Instantly, his eyes met mine, and there was no doubt in my mind that I wasn’t making things up.
‘Hey, Salman,’ I said, all the words I wanted to say lodged in my throat. ‘Do you think the –’
But I never got to finish my sentence because he planted his lips on mine, a kiss so forceful I couldn’t help but murmur with pain.
‘Oh my God, I’m so sorry!’ Salman groaned, covering his face with his hands. ‘I tried to be smooth and it obviously backfired, but I just knew that if I didn’t do it now I never would, and I couldn’t hold back any more.’ His words poured out a mile a minute, as if he physically couldn’t contain them any longer or he would explode. ‘That was a terrible kiss, wasn’t it?’
I burst into a laugh, even though my lower lip was still throbbing.
‘“Terrible” probably doesn’t even cover it, but maybe we could try again?’
Obviously, I nodded yes.
He’d smiled and leaned in, this time meeting my lips as gently as he could. And when he did, it was as if all the music from downstairs had disappeared and all that was left was us melting into one another. His hand softly cupped my face and if I wasn’t swooning before, I was after that. It was impossible not to smile as we kissed. It meant everything to finally have thatconfirmation from him. To finallyknowthat I hadn’t built it all up in my head.
We only pulled away when we heard children stampeding up the stairs.
‘Better?’ he asked, a smile dancing on his lips.
‘Muchbetter,’ I’d sighed, sad that it had come to an end, but knowing it was too risky to continue in a house full of desis.
‘Poppy, could you make arrangements for their date?’ Sadia snaps me out of my memories. ‘You’ll need to get in touch with Nishat and Ibrahim to find out their availability, and ideally we’d pair the photo scavenger hunt with another activity. And then for Akash and Samira, I think the proposal with the walk around the lake and the cooking with a meal kit is perfect, so please go ahead and make the appropriate arrangements for that one too.’ Sadia pauses, and I frantically scribble down what she said into my notebook, afraid to miss a single word. ‘There will, of course, be more that is required, but for now focus on those. Great job, you two.’
I’m beaming at the praise. Although Salman is included in it, I feel good knowing that Sadia is happy with me. It feels amazing knowing that my suggestions match the standard she’s used to. Even with her amendments to the proposals, the skeleton of my ideas are there. I can hardly contain myself at the thought that I’m actually good at something. This must be how Lipi feels about tarot and Salman about his photography.
‘I have an idea,’ Salman says as we’re rising from our seats. ‘For Nishat and Ibrahim, what if they do a flower arrangement workshop after the scavenger hunt? It’ll be low-pressure but hands-on, and they can chat while they do it. The arrangements don’t need to be perfect, and after the date is over they can take them home. I’m sure my parents would love to help. It’d be using an independent business, and Eternally Yours is all about supporting local, right?’
My mouth parts in surprise but I quickly shut it. It’s not a bad idea. Actually, it’s agoodone. It would totally fit Nishat and Ibrahim’s profiles, but why didn’t he suggest this when we were writing our proposals? We knew we’d need something beyond the scavenger hunt, but we ran out of time before we could think of something.
Or, at least, I thought that was what happened. Clearly, Salman always knew what the second part of their date would be.
‘That sounds like a fabulous idea. Why don’t we discuss it further?’ Sadia says, inviting Salman to sit back down. ‘Poppy, in the meantime, why don’t you get started on what I asked?’
I nod and leave the office without another word, afraid I might say something if I do, because what the actual hell? I plop down on my chair and furiously hit enter on my keyboard to bring the screen to life. I knew that Salman had an ulterior motive for joining the agency, and now that he’s blindsided me by proposing a new idea to Sadia suddenly it all clicks.
He’s not here for a summer job; he’s here as a way to forge a link between Petal Poush and Eternally Yours.
And when he said he wasn’t ready to leave Eternally Yours just yet and I stupidly thought it was because he wanted to spend time with me, it wasn’t. It was because of his parents. I bet he didn’t want to add it as a suggestion in our proposal documents because he thought I’d shoot it down because of the feud.
I watch them through the glass wall of Sadia’s office, trying and failing to read their lips but able to gauge nonetheless that Salman is on the receiving end of a beaming smile from Sadia. She’s probably praising him for his ‘fabulous’ idea.
I slouch in my chair, unable to believe how stupid I’ve been. I know I shouldn’t care, but I can’t help it. It’s not like I really thought he got the job here because of me anyway, so it shouldn’t matter why he’s actually here.
But after the way he’s been acting the past few days, the comments he’s made, it almost felt like we were finding our way back to one another. At least, on a friendship level.
I guess I was wrong.
GC WITH POPPY
Shirin
