Chapter Text
The biscuit fell out of Poppy’s mouth as she read the email. THE email. The one that, though she was yet to really realize how much, would change her life. For better, or for worse. But from here on out, it would definitely change everything from her simple, day to day life, to maybe some more important relationships.
“I got the job,” Poppy breathed, almost unbelievably.
“What? Pops, you got crumbs all over you. Why do you have to eat like that?” Julri chided, almost scooting away from her in disgust. But Julri wasn’t going to ruin this for her, right now.
“Juls, I got the job!” Poppy beamed you at him, pointing at her computer.
“I told you to not call me that! And which Job?” He went back to typing on his computer, listening to her with only a half ear.
“The assistant to Quincey Balthuman!” She felt like she was on cloud nine. She had sent in her resume, along with some other lower tier bands and singers. She never thought in a millions years she would actually hear back from him. The Quincey Balthuman, of the ARES band. They had been gaining popularity for the past two years, and they were not slowing down. And when Quincey had posted a job opening to be his and the band assistant, everyone had gone crazy. It was covered on the news, even. Poppy couldn’t even imagine how many applications they had gotten.
“Oh, that weird guy who dresses up?” Julri commented, finally looking up at Poppy. She wished he was a bit more enthusiastic, but it wasn’t going to dampen her spirits.
“It’s style. And it’s not even that weird,” Poppy shrugged. She stood, bringing her laptop with her and going into their study. She set her computer on the desk, and quickly responded to the email. It contained some documents about the day to day life of their work, and what was needed and expected. And whenever Poppy was available, if she could give Quincey a ring for a video chat. Poppy sent her code to video call her, and told them she would be ready in forty five minutes and she would love to sit and talk with them.
Poppy had never gotten ready so fast in her life. No time to wash her hair, so she flat ironed the bed head to a more tamed look, and used dry shampoo. It was Saturday, and on Saturdays Julri and her just hung out and laid around all day, and ordered takeout. She was not expecting to talk to Quincey, that’s for sure.
Poppy hurried out to the living room, where she had put on a nice top and blazer, and just some black slacks, even though she didn’t even need to put on nice pants cause it was a video call, but Poppy would’ve known. “How do I look?”
Julri looked up at her, and shrugged. “Maybe makeup? But like, natural looking.”
Dang it. She wanted to just do it all natural, but he was probably right. It wasn’t every day you got accepted for such a big job, and they were stars after all. Had to give it a bit more of an ‘oomph,’ or whatever her granny would say.
After putting on some eyeshadow, mascara, and lipgloss, Poppy finally felt ready. She opened up the window behind the desk to give her more natural light, and sat down. She could feel knots in her chest, in a good way, and watched the clock tik for those two minutes until it was time for the video call.
After a moment, the screen popped up she was receiving a call. Poppy took a deep breath, and clicked the green answer button.
And all of a sudden she was face to face with Quincey Balthuman. He was stunningly handsome, with hair so blonde it was almost white, a jawline that could cut diamonds, and a scar going down his eye. He beamed at her. “Miss Poppylan Wilkes! It’s so nice to meet you!”
“Hello!” Poppy was immediately eased by his cheery voice. “It’s so nice to meet you, Mr. Balthuman!”
“You can call me Quincey,” he assured, waving his hand. “Do you go by Poppylan?”
“Just Poppy is fine,” she said.
“Perfect! Well, Poppy, I wanted to say thank you for applying! It was really hard going through all the applications, but we found yours and I watched your recorded interview, and I feel like you would be a great match for me and my band!”
“Not your band!” Came someone yelling in the background, and the sound of laughter.
Poppy could almost see the vein in Quincey’s head pop. “... THE band. But right now we’re in California, about to start our tour. When would you be able to fly out here?”
Poppy has picked up some online work, so she actually wasn’t really working right now, so she didn’t have to put in her two weeks to anywhere. They didn’t have any pets so she wouldn’t feel bad about leaving Julri with all the responsibility of that. And overall there was nothing tying her down here.
“Whenever you need me to!” She said excitedly. “I’m just so happy to get this opportunity to work for you!”
“Gosh you’re so cute,” Quincey smiled. “How about in two days? I’ll buy your ticket and email you the details. I’ll also send you a list of items you’ll want to bring. We’ll be traveling by bus, so I hope that won’t be an issue, and we’ll stay in hotels after concerts for the night before heading out.”
Poppy nodded enthusiastically. Two days! Only two days. And then she would be working and helping out the ARES band. How unbelievable was that?
After quick goodbyes, Poppy stared at her screen, trying to come back to reality, when her email dinged. It was the two items Quincey said he would send over. How did he buy a ticket that fast? And it was first class? Poppy had never flown first class before.
Giddily, she went back out to the living room where Julri hadn’t moved, still on his laptop. “Julri! I’m leaving in two days! He just sent me my ticket!”
“Wait, leaving?” Julri looked up, brow raised. “Oh, it was one of those jobs? I thought I said that I didn’t want you to get a job that made you travel...”
There was a sinking feeling in Poppy’s gut. He always did this. “I know, and I applied to most that didn’t require travel. But I can’t miss this opportunity. And I’ll make sure to fly back whenever I can!”
“That’s a lot of money, Pops,” Julri sighed. Poppy continued to try and reassure him, showing him the figure she would be making. She could afford to fly back or fly Julri to her whenever they stopped somewhere. He still seemed pretty uneasy, but relented at the end.
The two days were a blur for Poppy. She packed a knapsack and a toiletries bag, but tried keeping it light like Quincey had suggested. They would be in a bus all together, so she couldn’t take up too much space. And if she needed clothes, she could buy some.
The day finally came, and Julri was busy for work so Poppy’s best friend Erdene picked her up to drop her off at the airport, which Poppy was thankful for. She had been so busy getting everything together, she didn’t have time to say goodbye to their usual friends.
“Gosh, Pops, I’m so excited for you!” Erdene squealed as she drove. “Like, ARES. They’re so huge right now. I heard they got booked to go on the At Night show.”
“It’s gonna be so great Dene!” Poppy agreed. “And Quincey seemed so nice.”
“Did you meet anyone else in the band?” Erdene sipped at her coffee. They had stopped for drinks after Erdene picked her up. It was six o clock in the morning, and her flight left at seven thirty.
“No, not yet,” Poppy said. Though she did some reading up on all of them. She knew ARES as a band, but she had never paid much attention to the other members.
Quincey was the lead singer, focusing on a pop rockish vibe. And he was always decked out on stage. Be it wings, devil horns, he once came out with a cat ears and a tail. Very good natured and comfortable with himself.
Gyu was a bass guitarist. Seemed fairly nerdy and smart from the interviews she had watched with him. Definitely a go with the flow type of guy with the other band members, and the newest, at Poppy’s understanding.
Goliath was their drummer. After Quincey, seemed to be the biggest heart throb. He flirted with all his fans, and had a few minor scandals at night clubs and STI rumors (all proven to be false, since he publicly release his medical testings about it).
And then finally their final member: Tora. Not much is known about him, besides the fact that him and Quincey started the band. He played the guitar, and was fairly quiet during all the interviews. Poppy suspected he would be at Quincey’s popularity level if he actually talked to his fans. From what she had read, if he did actually talk, it was small talk and nothing to make him stand out. His appearance did that for him, though. He was a beast of of man, covered in tattoos, with longer black hair. He was also the elder brother of Goliath.
Poppy couldn’t wait to meet them all in person.
“You’re not worried about being on a bus with four guys?” Erdene mused, brow raised.
“No,” Poppy shook her head. And even if she were to be worried, she had packed her taser. Not with the intention of using it on the guys, but just in case they got into a situation on the road. “I really don’t think any of them would pull that kind of stuff. And like I said, Quincey was nice.”
“Just make sure to be at least a little careful, until you get to know them,” Erdene pressed. “Though, maybe you’ll fall in love with one of them an you can break off your engagement to Julri!”
“Doubt it,” Poppy giggled. She knew her best friend didn’t like her choice in men, but her and Julri were comfortable with one another. They were high school sweethearts after all.
“We’ll see,” Erdene wiggled her brows. “You’re about to be traveling with four gorgeous men. What I wouldn’t do to trade places with you.”
They continued chatting until they pulled up to the airport, where they had a tearful goodbye. Erdene promised to fly out if Poppy could get her back stage and introduce her to ARES, and Poppy agreed.
After getting through security and getting to her gate, Poppy waited in line to board. She heard her phone ding, and was surprised to see it was from Quincey.
“Morning Miss Poppylan! Hope your flight is uneventful. I’ll be there to pick you up when you land! Just look for my driver, he’ll be holding a sign with your name on it.”
Poppy smiled. She was definitely going to like this job.