Searching for Something

[Poppy Lockwood]

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| Tagged: Patch Adams |

Oh god no. No, no, no.

It was night time and the rain had started. The girl did not think much about it when she decided to dash to the bookstore downtown. She was reading in her dorm as usual when, unexpectedly, the book ended on a cliffhanger. It was frustrating as hell because it was such a good book and now she must needed to get the sequel.

Fortunately for her, it was an old series -- she finally decided to pick it up after years, though she wondered why she never read it sooner -- so it was very likely for the next installment of the book to be in stores. Even though it had been some time ago.

It was raining and it looked like it would get heavier. So once the bookstore was in sight, she made a dash for it. Checking her watch -- it was only ten past nine -- and the lights were still switched on, Poppy Lockwood pushed her way through the unlocked doors and into the The Nook without registering the 'Sorry, we are closed' sign hanging on the front door. Phew, made it.

There was a chance she could get the sequel tonight. The thought made her giddy. The store was strangely quiet. No one was manning the cashier, but that did not bother her. Poppy made her way towards the fiction section. Once there, she searched for the book. "Where is it?!"

[Patch Adams]

Patch was checking on the cafe front of the bookstore when he heard the jingle that announced an arrival. He frowned slightly, thinking it was one of his parents or maybe it was Layla sneaking Nicky in for a late night snack. He walked over to the banister that overlooked the whole ground floor bookstore and found a dark-haired someone searching for something in the fiction section.

Switching off the lights to the cafe level, he walked down the spiral staircase that led to the ground floor and made his way over to where he had seen the intruder and cleared his throat to announce himself.

"Uh, can I help you?"

[Poppy Lockwood]

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She had searched more than a couple of shelves and still the book was yet to be found. The books there were not arranged in alphabetical order so she guessed she would be there for a while longer. Come on, where are you my little baby? Then, the voice from behind startled Poppy, like every other person would be when they realized they were not alone.

The voice did not sound angry so that was a relief to her. Although the tone sounded almost similar to the teacher who had caught her doing something she should not have. Or maybe it was just her mind playing tricks on her because she had been a little more cautious ever since that encounter.

Turning around, she faced the owner of the voice. It was a he. Oh, a very cute he. His features were gorgeous -- the hair, the bushy eyebrows, the jawline. What enhanced his look more was the fact that the guy did not have the condescending look most adult had around Poppy.

"Yes, you can help take me out for lunch." said Poppy, momentarily forgetting the search for her book.

[Patch Adams]

The response from the seemingly younger woman had Patch giving out a startled snort. He was not one to turn down someone who clearly knew what they wanted. Although he was still surprised it was happening.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves here." He chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest and letting his gaze move up and down the young woman's body. She was an attractive one, to be sure. "Did you not see the sign outside? I highly doubt you broke in just to ask me out for lunch."

[Poppy Lockwood]

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Her eyes followed his and she realized he was checking her out. This only boosted her confidence more. Perhaps a lunch date was in the making. Oh and he is so cute, thought Poppy after she had leisurely roamed her eyes from his head to his toes.

Her head tilted at the mention of a sign. She did not recall seeing any signs at all. Poppy was so engrossed in her determination to get the book, she had not paid much attention to the surrounding. When he finished, she replied, "Well, I was looking for something but then I found you." Poppy flashed him a flirty smile.

Just then she realized he had accused her of breaking in and the smile fell away. Nu-uh. "Hey, I did not break in. I was a perfectly good customer with her wallet who walked in through the front door instead of...forcing an entry." Poppy arched an eyebrow in questioning. "Pfft and there was no sign." Her arms crossed.

[Patch Adams]

Patch couldn't help the grin on his face when he answered. Quite the forward one too. And when her smile fell and the defensive side of her showed, the smile actually grew into a smirk before he went over to the closed sign on the door and showed it to her.

"We also put the timing on the door. It's nine fifteen now, fifteen minutes past closing time so..." he shrugged and placed the sign back on the door. "Maybe I'll just let it slide this one time." He said after a while. "What are you looking for?"

[Poppy Lockwood]

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She saw the smirk he had before he turned around and walked away. At first she was not sure where he was going exactly but she followed. When they neared the entrance of the Nook, Poppy knew they were going to the front door. "Oh my god, there is a sign isn't there," she muttered under her breath.

True enough there it was. He held it in his hands. She was not sure if she blushed but she definitely felt like an idiot and wanted to kick herself for it. "See all the more reason for me to buy you lunch." Girl makes a fool of herself in front of Cute Guy. Shoot me now.

Poppy looked at him with a look that she hoped conveyed gratitude when he did not make a big deal about it. Before she could thank him, he reminded her of her initial reason for breaking in the visit. "I was looking for a book," obviously. God woman.

"Silence by Becca Fitzpatrick. Kind of an old book. But I bought the first two in the series from your store a couple weeks ago. So I thought maybe you'd still have it?" Poppy bit her lip to stop talking.

[Patch Adams]

Refraining from smiling too much, though at this point he was pretty sure the girl should already be over any form of embarrassment she felt. At least there wasn't an audience. "Oh so now you're paying for lunch? Maybe I can help with that." He chuckled.

"Well, you've definitely come to the right place. Although you've kind of been searching in the uh...Braille section. Here, lemme show you where the printed books are." He gestured for her to follow before walking over to the section where they kept the regular books. "They're in alphabetical order by author." He leaned against a wall and waved her over to the fiction section. "If it's not there, you can pre-order with us and we'll get it over by next week."

[Poppy Lockwood]

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Now that was more like it. She smiled in delight. Now she did not feel like such a big fool -- even though she was in the braille section. God woman. Poppy followed him as he lead her to the correct place. With his back turned, she drank in the sight before her. Mmmmmhmmm.

"Thank you," she said as she turned to him. Her fingers skimmed over the spines of the books. Now here she saw the familiar names and titles. D, E, F...Fitzpatrick. "Found it!" She had to stand on her tiptoes to reach for the only Fitzpatrick book there was.

Luckily for her, it was the one she wanted. "Oh Patch, what did you do..." Poppy thought but did not realized she had said it out loud as she read the synopsis.

[Patch Adams]

He let her look for the book herself and once she found it, she mumbled something that made him raise his eyebrow. Did she just say his name? How would she even know his name?

Of course, he didn't know then that his name was the subject of the book so he looked at her curiously.

"Excuse me?" He asked as he cleared his throat. Play it cool, Patch. You don't want to make any sudden noises.

[Poppy Lockwood]

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Poppy was lost in her thoughts. She had just finished the book before Silence, so her emotions towards it was still fresh. Her eyes skimmed over the synopsis again.

"I want to protect you," Patch said quietly.

"But you didn't."

Oh her heart ached for the two. Then his voice pierced through the silence, breaking her out of her thoughts. "Hmm?" She looked at the man leaning against the shelf as if he had all the time in the world.

"Oh right I should pay for it now..." Gritting her teeth, she wondered if she made a fool of herself again. Clearly, she had kept him from whatever it was he was up to. Poppy still had not realized what she had said as she fiddled with the hem of her sleeves.

[Patch Adams]

Her being quiet was actually a little unnerving, seeing as she came at him full steam before. When she broke out of her reverie, Patch gave her a smile and nodded. Maybe it was just that thing where a person thinks they hear their name but it actually isn't.

"Yeah, I'll ring you up. You're going to mess up the tally for the day, lemme tell you that." He chuckled as he walked over to the cash register and brought out a a receipt book. He really didn't want to switch the register on again and mess up the calculations his parents had done before so it would be much easier to key it in tomorrow but still produce a receipt for the customer.

"And your name?" He asked as he wrote down the info of the book and it's price, taking note of the special code they tagged on the book for easy key-ins later.

[Poppy Lockwood]

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Ugh, stop fidgeting. She hated that she was feeling nervous. What happened to the confidence she had not so long ago? But then there was that smile again so she shook off the nerves that was starting to creep up on her.

Poppy chuckled along with him when he mentioned the tally and was glad he did not seem to mind it. Feeling happy with herself, she hugged the book to her chest when the man went to the counter. "Aw, I have you now Patch." She said -- yes out loud and she was fully aware of it -- as she smiled at the book.

Later in her room, huddled with her blanket, she could lose herself into the book. Patch you better have a good explanation, she thought grimly at how the second book had played out. That was why she could not help herself but make a quick trip to the bookstore.

Following the man, she then placed the book on the counter for him. "It's Poppy. Hey, if it's okay with you, can I please pre-order the last book? I noticed it wasn't on the shelf."

[Patch Adams]

The mention of his name again made him look at her curiously. "Okay, how do you even know my name?" He asked with a chuckle. "Did you really come here for that book?" He asked with an amused raise of an eyebrow. It didn't even occur to him that it could even be the book's protagonist.

He wrote her name down on the receipt and looked up at her with nod. "I'll need your number or just any means of contact so we can inform you when it comes in." He said before ripping out the receipt and sliding it over to her.

"Do you need a bag?" He asked, picking up the book and already leaning down to grab the small cloth bag so she could bring it home. He looked out the window then to see if it was still raining and he winced slightly. "Do you have an umbrella? Or at least a hoodie? It's pouring out."

[Poppy Lockwood]

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"Wait, what?" The brunette laughed along with him. "I don't recall you telling me your name, mister." She gave him a playful accusing look. Thinking back, she did not recall even calling out his name. 

Poppy placed her hands on the table and grinned up at him. "Yes, I really did come in here for the book, but maybe I'd leave with..." She tried to pick to suitable words but only managed with, "something more than just a book?" and she left it at that, awaiting his reply.

Taking the receipt from him, she let her fingers grazed his for a moment before stuffing the proof of her payment into a pocket. Poppy then took the pen from the man and scribbled her number onto one of the notepads there. At first she thought of writing a cute note like she had seen in movies;

Call me.

Call me♥

Call me maybe?

You know what to do.

In the end she decided on a winky face before slipping it over to him.

Before she could deny for the bag, he had mentioned the weather. Which made her look outside as well and comfirmed what he said. Poppy shook her head. She had left in a hurry, forgetting any means of sheltering her from the rain. "It's raining cats and dogs," she said grimly and pouted. "Don't suppose I could wait it out here for a bit, do you?" Please, please, please...