Realistic or Modern i wanna make your heart beat, run like rollercoasters.

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Heartbreaker was a favourite late-night haunt, particularly on Friday nights. The patrons were an odd mix of the corporate after-work crowd, fellow bartenders looking for a feed between shifts, and locals. The dive bar reverberated with old rock music, the vintage juke box lighting up the corner and giving the guests control over the playlist. Pouring drinks behind the bar were two bartenders, one who was named Poppy Meadows. Her raven hair was piled atop her head in a messy bun. The gold ring that fit snugly in her nose glinted in the bar’s blue neon lights. She’d opted for her usual all black look, with high waisted jeans and a bralette top that was barely more than lingerie, showing off the countless tattoos that adorned her body. She disliked sexualising herself as much as the next woman, but more skin meant bigger tips. And Poppy had recently blown almost all her savings on the latest VR gear in preparation for tonight.

The game of the century is how they had hailed Evolution Online. It supposedly incorporated new technology and took virtual reality to a whole new level. The game was officially live as of 8pm this evening, but she was already an hour into her shift at that point. Poppy was practically jittering with excitement, and regardless of how busy it was tonight, it seemed to crawl by.

An all too familiar face appeared at the bar top, a boyish grin on the man’s features, demanding her attention. Poppy tried to hide her sigh. A few weeks back, she had made the rash decision after a few too many drinks to bed the man. Now, Hamish was a very eager and very regular patron.

“Hey babe.” He purred. He also seemed to be under the impression that they had become an item. Sure, he was good looking in a typical gym junkie, tattooed kind of way. But Poppy got the distinct feeling he was more into her, than she was into him.

“The usual?” She asked, already pouring out a shot of bottom shelf rum.

“You know it. So, I’ve got no plans tonight…” He left the sentence hanging. He was so persistent. It was flattering usually, but today it was plain bothersome.

“I can’t tonight, Hame. I’m on the close. I don’t expect you to wait around until four in the morning. Besides, I have a bunch of errands to run tomorrow.” She lied easily. The only errands she was doing was questing her way through EO, but he didn’t need to know that. In fact, very few people knew that Poppy was an avid gamer. She knew it was silly, but it made her self-conscious, so she remained private about it. He tried to argue but she had to serve other guests. By the time she had finished with them, he was scowling into his drink. She used his momentary lack of awareness to disappear into the kitchen. Poppy had a soft spot for the cook. He was her favourite colleague, and not just because he slipped her leftovers whenever he could. There was something about the quiet boy that was comforting, as if she could bare her soul to him and every inch be welcomed. “I’m hiding.” She explained when he spotted her skulking into the room. “Hamish is here. Again.”

 

[Lurker]

"You got those mozzerella sticks down for table six yet?" The voice of the chef rang out to his fry cook. His very high fry cook. Come to think of it...Had the fry cook ever shown up to work sober? "Mozz sticks? Ah shit Seth I'm sorry I thought you said fries." Guess that answers that question. Seth sighed and walked over to the fryer. He pulled the fries up and shook the oil off before dumping them in a bowl. "Mozz sticks. Not fries." "Got it boss." "And you can't have any of these!" Seth heard the male grumble but didn't hear what he said. No doubt the stoner dropped them just because he had the muchies. Wouldn't be the first time. Won't be the last.

The kitchen was running it's usual skeleton crew of three people. Fry cook, dish washer, and Seth. Seth cooked everything else. They were all a pretty tight knit group in the back. It didn't help the actual cooking space was incredibly small. He was currently wearing a simple black t shirt and jeans with an apron thrown over and tied off. The boss had tried to enact uniforms for the back of house but had given up when all the other employees ignored it. Seth still had his but he only wore it on weekends when they were busy.

Seth made his way over to a prep table with the bowl of fries in hand. He munched on a few before sprinkling in some seasoning salt and tossing them all in it. He dumped the fries onto a plate and was just filling up a bowl of ranch when he heard the door to the kitchen open. The corners of his lips pulled up in a smile. Right on time.

It was no secret in the kitchen that Seth had a massive crush on Poppy. Everyone that worked back there could see it. Everyone it seemed, except for Poppy. As she approached Seth set the plate of fries down on a counter and slid them and the ranch towards her. He knew how she liked to eat her fries after watching her sneak them over and over. When she said she was hiding he immediately knew what was wrong but let her finish.

"Hamish, huh?" Seth chuckled some and leaned against wall. "Wow you know someone should really have warned you about him..." Seth made a grand show of pretending like he was thinking hard. "Oh wait! That's right. Someone did." Again more dramatics like he was deep in thought. Their friendship had always been like this. Playful teasing between the two. Many people had come and gone out of the bar and many had given him their advice on how to get with her. He ignored them. "Wait a minute Poppy. Why that someone, that was me!" He now acted like he was shocked to come to the revelation.

"I told you dude was a creep. Not my fault you decided to mess around with him. And now you come and dare eat my fries." He ignored the fact he had freely offered them and chuckled. Truthfully it hurt. He had known Poppy for about a year now and he was always the one she told her boy problems to. ALways the one giving the comforting shoulder. It was like a bad rom com or something. Even realizing that he couldn't stop himself. Couldn't bring himself to confess his feelings to her. "Any plans tonight? You know. Assuming you aren't hanging out with our boy Hamish."

 

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Poppy acknowledged the two others in the kitchen with a nod. Seth pushed a plate of fries towards her, and she shot him a dazzling smile in return. Swiping a fry and smothered it in dip before munching happily on it. He chastised her playfully about her bad choice in men, before dramatically reminding her that he had advised against the hook up. “I know.” She hid her face in her palm. “It’s hard to find a good guy in this city.”

"I told you dude was a creep. Not my fault you decided to mess around with him. And now you come and dare eat my fries."

Poppy faked offense, hand flying to her throat with a theatrical gasp. “Your fries? We both know they were always going to be mine.” The corners of her lips twisted into an impish smile. “Besides, if you didn’t feed me, no one would. You don’t want me to starve, do you?” Truly, she was a terrible cook. Her tiny fridge was full of takeout leftovers, and she had never actually used the oven in her cramped studio apartment.

"Any plans tonight? You know. Assuming you aren't hanging out with our boy Hamish."

“Definitely not.” She screwed her face up in distaste. “No, nothing exciting. I have a bunch of things to sort tomorrow so it’ll be straight to bed for me. Early start and all.” She propped an elbow against the counter and inspected a particularly large chip as she spoke. No doubt the chef would know instantly that she was lying, but he never called her out when she did. Poppy was honest about most aspects of her life with Seth. She knew he would understand as a gamer himself, and the whole thing was a somewhat absurd, but she still couldn’t bring herself to tell the truth about her gaming habits. “I’m on the close tonight though so getting out at a semi decent time will be close to impossible. Gonna smash out pack down so I can catch some z’s.”

“What about you? Hitting the town, picking up the ladies?” She teased, trying to switch the focus from herself.

 

[Lurker]

Seth had to resist the urge to roll his eyes into the back of his head when she talked about how hard it was to find a guy. He crossed his arms and watched her munch on the fries. "I've told you dozens of times you need to stop looking for guys here. You don't want some random dude picking up chicks in a bar. That's exactly what Hamish is and look what happened."

He stepped away for a moment to finish up a burger he had on the stove. He kept talking to her as he cooked, raising his voice to be heard. "Besides you can thank Trevor for the fries. He conveniently forgot what he was cooking." Trevor the fry cook glared over at him but Seth just chuckled. "I'll fix you some before we leave bud. But seriously let me do it. You know how boss gets with food." The fry cook couldn't argue with that and just shrugged in agreement. While he was cooking Poppy did make a good point. He didn't want her to starve and he was fully aware she ate like a garbage can most of the time.

Seth made his way back over to her as he plated the burger and put the lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, and his own special burger sauce onto the bun. He slid the plate into the server's window and rang the bell. He turned his attention back to Poppy as he waited for the waitress to come run the food. She was lying to him about her plans. Of course she was. Even if he didn't know about her plans to play EO he knew for sure that she wasn't closing. Not to sound like a stalker but he made a point to know her schedule pretty well so he could work the same hours as her. Was it pathetic? Sure. Did he care? Depends on who asked him.

The nerd laughed in spite of himself at her teasing question. "You know me so well. I actually have four dates lined up back to back. Sort of a speed dating situation." He grinned at his blatant lie. He figured if she could lie to his face he could do the same right back to her. Seth leaned over and grabbed a fry from the plate and dunked it into the ranch. The door opened to the kitchen and the waitress grabbed the food. She thanked Seth and ran it out.

While they were standing there chatting his mind slipped back to the conversation he'd heard about a week ago. He hadn't been trying to snoop initially but when he heard Evolution Online come out of Poppy's mouth he couldn't help himself. Of course he knew about EO. Anyone who played video games knew about it pretty much. It was being built as the game of the century. Fully VR. Fully open world. The company ran out of digital copies in the first day of it being announced. Stores everywhere were desperate for the VR headsets to play the game with. People were buying them with crazy mark ups because all they cared about was playing the game. Of course Seth was one of them. He'd had to spend nearly all his life savings to get one but it would be worth it.

Then to hear Poppy was interested in playing? He had heard everything while she was talking to her friend. What character name she was going to use, where she was planning to start. Now all Seth had to do was meet up with her when the game released tonight and become friends with her. Was it a plan out of desperation? Yes. But in the video game world Seth was confident. He wouldn't be afraid of asking her out to a quest. It would all work out. What could possibly go wrong?

"I get off here in a minute. Anything you need before I head out?"

 

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“Where’s the fun in that?” She poked her tongue out. What was she, twelve? “I don’t go looking for them. And anyway, it’s not like I’m trying to find a husband.” Poppy watched him serve up the burger, fascinated. She’d worked in all sorts of hospitality gigs but working the pass at a fine dining restaurant had been up there with favourite. She’s always admired the finesse of cooking and plating food, no matter if it was a burger in a dive bar or an extravagant lobster dish. When Seth revealed the fries were the other cook’s doing, she chuckled. No doubt it was on purpose. “Thanks Trevor.” She called out in a sing-song voice, reaching for the fries again.

"You know me so well. I actually have four dates lined up back to back. Sort of a speed dating situation."

“I knew it.” She shifted her weight onto one hip and quirked a brow. “You gonna break all their hearts when they no doubt fall madly in love with you?” Poppy tended to whinge about her boy dramas to him, but he never reciprocated in the year or so they’d been friends. In fact, he never talked about anyone he was interested in. Initially, it had seemed a bit odd to her, but she’d just presumed he wasn’t looking or hadn’t found anyone. Comparably, she liked to keep her options open but said options were never around for more than a few weeks at a time.

"I get off here in a minute. Anything you need before I head out?"

Before she could answer, the other bartender, Irene, poked her head through the door. “Hey Poppy? I have a huge favour to ask. If I take your close tonight, can you do mine tomorrow?”
Her brown eyes lit up. “Seriously?”
“Yeah, my folks are in town this weekend, and Mum has a full itinerary planned for Sunday.” The other girl grimaced.
Seems she would be signing into EO sooner rather than later. Poppy could barely contain the smile that broke across her face. “Of course!”
“Ugh, you’re a lifesaver. You can knock off now then.”
“Do you want me to let Marty know?” She and the venue manager generally did Friday nights together.
“I already have.” The tall blonde looked sheepish. “In fact, I kind of switched our rosters around already.”

Poppy couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her. “Good thing I agreed then.” Irene disappeared and the dark-haired girl turned her attention back to Seth with a grin. “Unbelievable.” Pulling her phone from her pocket, she checked the time, frowning slightly. It wasn’t too late to walk home, but she generally avoided it, even though her apartment was only a few blocks away. However, it was peak time for rideshares to increase their prices and she was unable to justify the cost.

“You better scrub up for all those dates you’ve got. And I…” She trailed off, opening the kitchen door a crack and peering out. Hamish was loitering around the bar, his head whipping around as if he was searching for someone. Which of course he was. Her. “Need to avoid a certain someone while I make my escape.” She grinned at the chef, shaking her hair free of its bun. Raking her fingers through the dark locks to free the tangles, she pressed her lips thoughtfully.
“I'm tossing up between pulling the fire alarm and setting an actual fire. Any suggestions?”