Chapter Nineteen
Milo – Sunday
It felt good to wake up fresh faced after a night of drinking. After seeing how drunk Eliza was getting, I had decided to pace myself so that I could be there to look after her. I sat up in the bed, remembering her drunken words to me as she lay on the bed in a near state of sleep. Did she actually think that I’d be considering having sex with someone so soon after her? Did she assume I thought that way? Had I not done enough to show her I wasn’t that kind of guy? Did she honestly believe there was anywhere in the world I would have rather been than with her? No other possible scenario even came close!
I might not have managed to learn too much from Laynee, but at least I now knew there wasn’t anyone who had her heart. Clearly, it was the betrayal from her ex that got to her, more than the actual guy, which was fair enough. No one wanted to see someone they’d spent time with hooking up with someone else.
That I could work with.
Not that I knew exactly what I planned to do with that information, but it was nice to have it all the same.
She was jealous last night, though, actually affected by the thought of me with someone else, which spoke volumes. I felt like that meant something. It made me grin to myself, at any rate. It made me feel like she saw me differently than anyone else – and liked what she saw.
As I walked through the front room of the cabin, I noticed the place was a mess. At some point in the night, Eliza must have staggered through, probably racing to the toilet to throw up, and she’d knocked everything everywhere in the process. While I couldn’t make up for sleeping through her sickness in the night – which I now felt terrible for – I could tidy up a bit. Self-inflicted pain was awful; if she’d been sick, then she wouldn’t be in the mood to clean up, so at least I could help her in the respect.
I set about getting everywhere neat and tidy for her, the entire time smiling happily to myself. Eliza was an unexpected adventure, a treat I enjoyed. Even without everything else, her company was amazing. She made me recognize that I didn’t need to spend forever among the same kind of people. She reminded me that there was so much else to the world. She just made me see things in a whole different light.
Once everything was done, and I surveyed the place with a sweet satisfaction, I flicked the ancient coffee pot on to go and wake Eliza up with something to drink. She undoubtedly felt like a dehydrated mess, even with the water that I left for her, and I wanted to be the one to help her out.
As the water boiled, I thought about my own coffee machine, back at home, that would have me a hot drink completed in seconds. I realized I didn’t miss it even one bit. I wouldn’t have minded waiting forever for a substandard brew to stay here...
I knocked lightly on her bedroom door, but got no reply, so I peeked around the door. She looked like death warmed over, but somehow still cute. Despite knowing that she’d been throwing up, I still wanted to kiss her. She was just that lovely.
“Morning, sleepyhead,” I said quietly. “I just brought you in a coffee. I’ll leave it on the side so you can have it when you wake up...” I wasn’t sure why I was talking to her when so was obviously crashed out, but I felt a little weird about being in her room without a solid reason.
“Milo?” she eventually grunted, without even opening one eye. “I think I’m dying.”
“Have something to drink. That will help,” I reassured her. I sat on the bed beside her and pulled her into a sitting position. As I handed her the mug, I noticed that her hands were trembling a little, so I gripped onto it with her to prevent her from any unnecessary spills.
“Maybe we went a little overboard last night,” I teased, chuckling lightly while rubbing her back tenderly. I would have sat there all day doing that if I thought it would help.
“Ugh, you don’t say,” she moaned, rubbing her forehead. “I’m sorry if I was a nightmare or a massive idiot.”
“You don’t have anything to apologize for – it was a lot of fun. Laynee is great, too; you have a good friend in her.”
Her eyes flickered to the floor, and I noticed Veil curling up in a ball by her hand. She allowed her arm to roll off the edge of the bed so she could pat him while she recovered. No wonder Veil loved her – she seemed to absolutely adore him! I cocked my head to one side as I watched him lapping up the attention, noticing it was more than that. He actually looked like he wanted to look after her because she wasn’t well. He was protecting her.
“So, I think I’m going to pop to the supermarket,” I told Eliza tactfully, recognizing that she still needed more sleep. “I’ll pick up some stuff for dinner...”
“Oh, no, don’t talk about food!” she cried out, clutching her stomach dramatically, making me laugh.
“Dinner isn’t for hours yet. Trust me, you will be hungry by then! Anyway, is there anything else you want while I’m gone?”
“No, thank you. I think I might just sleep for the rest of my life.”
I had planned on taking Veil out with me, but as soon as it became obvious that he didn’t intend to go anywhere, I accepted that and went out by myself.
It made the drive quiet and peaceful, but it also gave me some time to remember how amazing Eliza looked last night. As the night started, and she was all dolled up, she looked incredible, but as things went on and she became disheveled, she somehow managed to look ever better. Less anxious, happier, more carefree. Messy, sure, but adorable with it.
As she drank, I wanted to slide my hand into hers; as she danced, I wanted to wrap my arms around her waist; and as she slid next to me in the cab, I wanted to claim her as my own forever. This whole being friends thing wasn’t going to work out for me. I had no idea how I was going to do it.
“Hey, Milo!” I heard a voice calling out my name as I moved out of the car. “How you doing?” I turned around, and much to my surprise, Landon was waving back at me. “You still on for tomorrow?”
The tour, of course. I nodded enthusiastically at that. “I’ll be there at seven a.m. sharp. I’m looking forward to it!” It amazed me that Landon remembered me so well. Florence might have been a small place, and face-to-face customer skill were essentials, but this was on another level entirely. This guy had his priorities right – every time I saw him, he impressed me more.
“Great, can’t wait.” He grinned happily, before shifting his shopping bags in his arm. “Anyway, I better get moving, but I’ll see you in the morning.”
Saying our goodbyes, I felt all positive about his company again. I might have been dubious about the whole thing, I did still have doubts, but he was such a great guy who knew what he was doing. There had to be something in that.
***
“So, you are hungry now, right?” I teased Eliza as I placed the plate down in front of her. “You better be, I’ve been cooking all day!”
“Sure, all day,” she laughed weakly. “Thank you for this; it’s very needed.” She chewed in silence, her expression thoughtful. “You know, this is why I never get drunk. I hate the whole not remembering thing the next day. I can recall small flashes, but that’s about it.”
“Well, you had a lot of fun and you didn’t totally embarrass yourself; what more is there to worry about?” I shrugged, trying to remain evasive. I wasn’t sure if she could remember being jealous, and I couldn’t bring it up. “It was good.”
“Okay, as long as I didn’t do anything that people will be talking about in the salon, that’s the main thing. Laynee once danced on the tables and everyone kept coming in for a blow dry, just to tell me the story.”
“Well, there you go, there’s your new business model!” I exclaimed jokingly. “Do crazy stuff all weekend and embrace the financial benefits throughout the week.” That brought a smile to her face. “Got to be worth it, right? Got to be easier than renting the cabin out to crazy guys like me.”
Unfortunately, that statement got to us both. It reminded each of us of the situation we were in and led to a short burst of silence. It made me feel good that she didn’t want me to go, but also bad. Why couldn’t time stand still, just for a little while longer, so that we could explore what this could be? Maybe it wouldn’t be anything, maybe we would quickly recognize that we weren’t meant to be, but the not knowing was damn near killing me.
“Anyway,” Eliza interrupted my thoughts as she finished up her food. “I know that I’ve spent most of the day in bed, but I’m still exhausted. I better get some sleep so I’m fresh for tomorrow.”
She moved closer to me, and for a heart-stopping moment, I thought she was going to kiss me. My body froze, my lips tingled, my heart lit up on fire... but then her lips connected lightly with my cheeks and the illusion shattered around me. Of course, a friendly kiss on the cheek. Why would I expect anything else?
“I’ll see you in the morning, okay? Goodnight.”
“Night,” I replied sadly behind her, watching her walk into her room. I wanted to grab her, to pull her onto my lap, to kiss her and forget all the being sensible nonsense – but I didn’t. However challenging it would be, if friends was what Eliza wanted, that was what I needed to do. I had to wait until she wanted me, until she made it obvious, and if that never happened, then so be it. It would be difficult, but that was that.
When I thought about my past, and I considered how Eliza made me feel, it was obvious now that things with Veronica had been ridiculous. I had clung to her because she’d told me what I wanted to hear, and then she became taboo and even more attractive. I was glad, though, for what she’d done because it made me that much smarter, that much better around Eliza. If it hadn’t been for her bullshit, I might not have had it in me to be so respectful and sensible.
I would just have to see where that newfound attitude got me. So far, I wasn’t too sure it was going to work out, but if I had a little faith, maybe things would turn around.
I had an early morning myself, so I needed to get some rest myself. Sighing sadly, I gathered up my things and brought Veil into the bedroom with me. Alone... for another long and lonely night.
This is fine, this will be okay, I will get through this.
We both will.