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I locked the car behind me with a sigh and followed Poppy into the restaurant. I knew that Poppy and Jenny were friends, I knew they met once in a while because Jenny does bring her up in our conversations sometimes, but even those conversations are limited because Jenny and I don't talk often.

We don't get along, to say the least. I know she's not the only one to blame when it comes to what happened in the past but I can't move on from it without holding a bit of a grudge. It's a bad habit. I don't forgive people easily, but it's always been that way.

The only reason Jenny and I talk and meet sometimes is because I want to be a part of Blake's life and she wants that too. Jenny and I are the only siblings from our family and if we lose touch, that's it. Her kids would have nobody from her side of the family and neither would mine if I ever even have them. Blake's my only nephew and her only child, so it's only right that I at least try to be a part of his life.

Poppy pulled the door open and walked in while I took a quick scan around the place. It wasn't too full today, only a few tables were occupied.

"Hey."

I looked ahead, my eyes meeting Jenny's.

"Hey," Poppy sang and then moved forward, lightly poking Blake's cheek. "Hi, Blake."

Jenny held him on her hip, only looking at Poppy. "You've got table seven," she told her.

"Thank you," Poppy said before glancing at me over her shoulder and then walking off to the table.

I lingered for a second, taking my hands out of my pockets.

"Hi, Josh," she said, offering me a small smile.

"Hey, Jenny."

She took in a breath and then moved forward. "Could you hold him for a second? I need to check the kitchen."

I nodded before taking Blake, flicking his blond curls out of his eyes. Once Jenny was gone, I cracked a small smile. It was impossible not to when I held him. "Hi," I whispered, tapping his nose. He grinned, showing me four little teeth as he rested his head on my shoulder, his bright blue eyes sparkling. I took in a breath, steadily patting his back. When I realized Poppy was already seated, I made my way over to her and sat down, seating Blake on the table between us, placing the salt shaker in front of him after making sure the lid was closed.

Poppy watched, resting her arms on the table, and then turned her attention from Blake to me. "Look, I..." she sighed and then cleared her throat. "I know you think I should apologize to you and maybe I should but what happened on that trip was not my fault. I didn't even know about it until today."

"I don't care," I replied. "I don't care if it was your fault or if it wasn't, all I know is that I'm in this situation because of you. I don't work with people, Poppy and I'm not going to work with you. So you better find a solution and fix this."

"Joshua," she said slowly, forcing out a dry chuckle, "Lydia told both of us that we're not having this issue just because of me. If I blamed it all on you like you're doing to me, this situation would be very different."

"You're right, it would be different. I would talk my way out of it, which you clearly can't."

Blake cooed between us, making both of us pause for a split second.

"You've worked at Travel Addict Weekly for five years," she said. "We all know Lydia has a soft spot for you, she actually considers your opinions. It doesn't work like that for me, I'm not the teacher's pet."

"That's clearly why you're failing," I mumbled.

She put her head down on the table, groaning softly.

Blake stopped playing with the salt shaker and looked at me.

"Hit her," I mouthed, nodding.

He frowned at the back of Poppy's head before patting it gently, looking at me.

I rolled my eyes. "I said hit, not pat," I whispered as she sat upright, holding Blake's hand.

"Josh, work with me here. I want out of this just as much as you but I can't do this by myself. We both have to convince her. Maybe if we come up with a better idea for the magazine then—"

"Why should I, Poppy?"

"Because you want out, don't you?" She lifted a brow, getting distracted again when Blake stared at her, playing with her fingers. "Doesn't he?" she asked him. Blake didn't react at all and she whined softly, glancing under the table. I took a quick look underneath before she looked up and noticed her rocking her leg back and forth, ready to kick me in the shin.

When she tried, I pushed my legs apart and caught hers. She glared at me and my lip twitched to lift in amusement but I stopped myself and let go of her leg.

"We have to work together for this if we don't want to become travel partners, okay?" she asked.

"Then come up with an idea," I told her. "One good idea. Actually, I'm not sure you can do that. Just one idea. If it's not good, then I'll come up with one. But you go first."

She fell into thought. The reason it's impossible to get out of this mess is because our magazine doesn't fucking lack anything. We never have to introduce a whole new idea, it's just improving our existing segments. We were screwed and we both knew that, we just didn't want to admit it or believe it. Traveling the world with Poppy would only make me hate wherever we went.

"What if we tell her to make a new segment?"

"About?"

"About visiting and reviewing celebrities' favorite places around the world."

I shook my head, tying Blake's tiny laces when I realized they were open.

"Why not?" she huffed.

"Our magazine is meant to help people travel on a budget. On a realistic budget, not a celebrity budget. I doubt our magazine has enough money to support a trip to celebrities' favorite destinations. Believe me. I've seen people propose this idea and it's always been shot down. We don't even fund our trips all by ourselves, the magazine's shareholders pay for it and take the money in return."

She blinked and then frowned, staring at the table and falling back into thought.

"Do you guys want to eat anything?" We both glanced up where Jenny stood. She glanced between us.

"I'm good," I replied.

"Yeah, me too. I don't have so much of an appetite anymore."

"All right." She stepped forward to pick up Blake but I put an arm around.

"Can he just stay for a minute?" I asked, lifting my head to look at her.

She blinked a bit in surprise before leaning back, a smile tugging at her lips. "Of course. Let me know if you need anything." And with that, she left.

I faced Poppy and found her staring at me. "What?" I questioned.

"Can I ask you something?"

"No."

"I will anyway."

"Don't."

"But I will."

"I said—"

"You're not close, are you? You and Jenny?"

I ground my teeth. "No, we're not."

"How come?"

"We're just not. Never were."

"Liar," she scoffed. "She told me you were always super close. Until she left Chicago, which is where you're from. Am I right?"

"If you know then why are you asking?"

"I'm just curious about your side of the story."

"Why? Wouldn't you believe your best friend?" I lifted a brow.

She shrugged. "There's always three sides to a story, not two. There would be your side, her side, and the truth. Only nobody knows the truth because there's no one to tell it, so..." she trailed off.

"Back to the problem at hand?" I prompted.

"Right," she nodded only to then ask, "But why don't you both get along?"

"Poppy," I sighed, tilting my head back.

"Sorry, sorry," she muttered.

"It's complicated, okay? Can I leave at that?"

She nodded again. "Not my business, I know. Well, I pitched an idea. Your turn."

No matter how hard I thought about it, I only came up blank. It just wouldn't work and I was so sure of it. "We're fucked," I concluded.

Poppy frowned, covering Blake's ears.

I rolled my eyes. "Seriously, we are."

She pulled her hands down. "Don't be so pessimistic. I know that's like your thing, but really. It's not helping."

"I'm just being realistic. I have to tolerate you," I shrugged. "There's nothing else."

Her eyes narrowed. "You have to tolerate me? I have to tolerate you, Josh." I watched her blankly. "You're so..." she trailed off, groaning in frustration.

"I'm so...?" I taunted, leaning forward.

She clenched her jaw and mirrored me, leaning in. "Frustrating," she said.

"So are you. On top of that, you're annoying. You're difficult to work with and I know that without even working with you. You make it a point to prove me wrong, Poppy."

"Because you make it a point to prove you're the only one who can be right."

"Because I am. Take this for example. I'm telling you right now, we don't have a choice anymore."

"I'm not disagreeing with that. Everyone doesn't work against you, Josh, you need to stop thinking that they do."

I paused, hesitating for a moment. "You clearly are," I said after a while.

"I'm not, despite what you think. If we both know we don't have a choice, why are we arguing? We have to travel together, can't we just come to terms with that?" Blake tried standing up and Poppy offered him a hand while I made sure I could catch him in case he fell.

"It's not that we can't come to terms with it," I replied, both of us focusing on Blake. "It's that we don't want to."

"But we have to. There's a difference," she mumbled as Blake started walking around, taking tiny steps.

He was really just stumbling around in his overalls. He walked towards Poppy and I leaned back, watching him. His foot reached the edge of the table and Poppy caught him, laughing and pulling him into her arms.

She made him sit facing her and fixed up his hair a bit. "You like me, don't you?" she asked and glanced at me over his head. "More than your uncle?"

Blake only giggled.

Poppy smiled and then looked at me again. "What now?"

I thought for a moment. "Now we make sure while we are on these trips, we interact as little as possible. We should focus on the individual parts of it. Whatever we have to do together, let's keep that to a minimum. Now that we're screwed, thanks to you."

"Oh my God, you're impossible," she muttered, putting her head in Blake's lap.

He glanced at me over his shoulder again.

"Hit her," I mouthed again, nudging his arm. I waited and when he didn't, I leaned forward, taking his hand and hitting the back of her head before sitting back down.

She looked up at Blake with a frown but when he turned to me, he ratted me out. She scoffed softly. "You're unbelievable, Josh. Unbelievable."

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