Caramel | A Short Story Collection ✓

12. Poppy's Picnic

Poppy is furious when her boyfriend plans a picnic to celebrate their three year anniversary, but Joanne knows she's in for a surprise.

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"But honestly, a picnic? Is he freaking serious?"

Joanne sighed, unsure of what to say in order to console her friend. Poppy's face was pure red, and her eyes were narrow slits - if Joanne said the wrong thing, Poppy might kill her as well as her boyfriend. "Men aren't the world's greatest thinkers," she tried. "It probably didn't occur to him you were expecting a fancy dinner date."

"We have been dating three years. Three years," Poppy fumed, downing the rest of her wine in one impressive gulp. "And I have put up with a lot from him, I'll have you know. I was the one who had to tackle all the commitment issues she left him with, I was the one who had to miss the Majorca holiday I'd been planning for months because he didn't have anyone to go to Wimbledon with..."

"Yes, I know, I was there for all that too," Joanne commented drily. Saturday evenings with her best friend used to be fun, at least until Poppy started dating Greg and suddenly they turned into weekly bitching sessions about what he and had his evil ex who just happened to be Poppy's co-worker had done to her this time. Joanne felt like she hadn't talked about herself once since the couple had formed, and her own best friend had no idea about the rather more substantial troubles going on in her own life.

"I just can't believe Greg's organised a picnic in the park for our three year anniversary." Poppy complained, glancing down at her glass if she'd just noticed it was empty. "Do you have any more wine?"

"Second shelf beside the fridge."

Poppy hummed as she went in and took the final bottle of white wine, pouring herself a generous glass. "This is cheap stuff," she remarked, taking a sip. "You should buy better bottles."

Joanne wished she could, but with Poppy coming over and drinking her dry every week she could hardly afford the ones she was buying at the minute. "Doesn't seem to stop you," she teased even though she meant it as more of a dig. She endured Poppy's continuous complaints for another hour before she finally left, stumbling out to the waiting taxi. When her friend was gone, she let out a sigh of relief and phoned Greg.

"So? Did she say anything?" Greg answered immediately.

"Don't worry, she hasn't a clue." Joanne confirmed. "You were completely right - the picnic thing threw her off completely."

Greg let out a sigh of relief. "Thank God. And the ring's nice, right?"

"The ring is beautiful." Joanne reassured him for the millionth time. "There's no way Poppy would say no with a ring like that."

"Thanks, Joanne. I really couldn't have organised all this without you."

She smiled. "I was happy to help. See you Friday." She hung up the phone and settled down on her second hand sofa, swirling the last drop of wine around the glass. Poppy had no idea how lucky she really was - she had a boyfriend that loved her, parents who adored her and a job that fulfilled her. Joanne would kill for any one of those things, yet Poppy moaned about them incessantly.

Sometimes she wondered why all of Poppy's dreams got to come true and she had made headway with none of her own.

Come Friday, Joanne had tried her best to swallow her resentful feelings. It was unfair to blame Poppy for her fortune, she realised that, and a good friend wouldn't be so jealous of her. She took a half day off from her boring job as a receptionist in order to meet Greg down at the park and help set some things up.

"Joanne!" He greeted her warmly, enveloping her in a hug. "Thank you again."

Poppy was so unappreciative of him, Joanne couldn't help but think as together they strung streamers from trees, organised chairs and tables with ample amounts of food weighing them down and arranged a speaker to play soft tunes. Slowly, friends and family of Poppy trickled into the clearing, all dressed in their best, making Joanne feel insecure about the old dress she wore which she struggled to fit into.

Surveying her work, Joanne realised it was completely over-the-top, exaggerated and public for a proposal. In short, Poppy would love it.

She planted Greg just in front of the assembled party to do one last thing. Using a white spray can that was usually used to mark lines on fields, she drew a wobbly, slightly lopsided heart around him.

Joanne took her place at one of the tables, making polite small talk with some of Poppy's other friends. They were incredibly dull, and Joanne wondered how larger than life Poppy could possibly get along with them until she realised they were probably thinking the same about her. After all, Poppy was a reporter that travelled Europe, and she was just a receptionist with a small apartment and zero chances of ever conning someone into marrying her. The rest of the girls were stuck in similar situations to Joanne, which led her to wonder if Poppy liked to surround herself with boring people who listened patiently to her grumbles in order to make herself feel special.

She couldn't work out of the idea made her feel sad or angry.

Everyone began to settle down as the clock ticked towards six, when Poppy was supposed to arrive. Punctual as ever, Poppy strolled down the small hill into the clearing wearing a beautiful off the shoulder lilac dress that she'd probably bought just for the occasion. Despite her own problems, Joanne couldn't help but smile when she saw the look of astonishment on Poppy's face, which quickly turned into a look of radiant joy as Greg got down on one knee and pledged himself to her for life. Her friend nodded eagerly, sliding the outrageously expensive ring onto her finger before kissing her new fiancé as if her parents weren't sitting at the table behind her.

Joanne indulged herself in food and wine, giving her a good excuse not to carry on talking to any of the people at her table. As night began to fall, the music was turned up and people started to dance. She stared glumly as an onslaught of happy couples danced barefoot in the grass, sure she would never find anyone to dance with her.

"Come on, Joanne, you can't just sit there all night." She turned round in surprise to see a happy Poppy extending her hand out to her. "Dance with me."

Reluctantly, she joined Poppy in middle of the throng. "Congratulations," she said, and she did mean it. At least one of them had managed to advance their love lives.

Poppy beamed. "Can you believe it? I'm engaged. And this... this is perfect. Thanks."

Joanne paused. "Um, you should be thanking Greg. He did all of this."

Poppy rolled her eyes. "Like you said, men aren't the world's greatest thinkers. There's no way Greg could have done this without some help, which is where I suspect you came in. And seeing as you've done so well at this, how would you like to help me with the wedding? You can be my best bridesmaid."

Poppy's eyes were round and hopeful, and it was so sweet a proposition Joanne decided not to correct her phrasing. "Obviously I'll be your 'best bridesmaid'. What are best friends for?"

The song finished, allowing a more upbeat song to take the reigns. Both Poppy and Joanne's eyes widened as they recognised the tune.

"Yo I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want-"

"So tell me what you want, what you really, really want-"

And as the two friends bounced about to their favourite tune, Joanne reflected that maybe she had achieved one of her dreams.

Even if Poppy didn't realise what she had, even if she constantly annoyed the life out of her, even if she'd changed a lot since their first day of school, Joanne had the best friend anyone could wish for.