Tea - Chapter 22

Chapter 22

In a way, Miles was dreading his day off that week, for other reasons than the lack of a lover in his bed when he woke up. He had to figure out the wedding plans or at the very least, move further along that where they were at the moment.

The only thing that got Miles out of bed to face it was the knowledge that Sophie would be sorely disappointed if he had not made any progress by the time she returned from work that afternoon. A great as the night before had been, Miles didn’t want it to be the last time for any length of days.

He did, however, allow himself a tall Bloody Mary in the kitchen. The special ingredient was hidden in a half-empty bottle of ‘Evian’ in the refrigerator. After half of Miles’ breakfast had swum a couple of laps around his veins he called his mother in Chicago. It had been so long since he had thought about the actual ceremony end of the deal that he had forgotten where they had left off.

Miles tossed a Gin Blossoms c.d. in the kitchen stereo, which was the best looking choice of all the scratched and abandoned discs in the former fruit basket butting against the player. He stretched out in the punctured yellow office chair beside the phone and dialed the number in his head.

“How did it go?” Sophie asked almost immediately. They were in Miles’ cabin and before he could answer he silently sighed at the fact that Sophie automatically went to Miles’ cabin whenever they were in a situation similar to then.

“Fine,” Miles said, once he was done taking Sophie in. “The wedding is set for the last day of June. We just have to get our marriage license before the ceremony, so if you could send all that information to Illinois tomorrow, we’ll be good to go. My mom gave me the address of the place to send it to, and I’ll leave you my wallet so you’ll have all of my information. I think you can go online and get the form, if not, call the number I have and have them fax or mail the paperwork. We’ll have it sent to my parent’s house to save time and hassle and it will be there when we get to Chicago.”

“Wow. She got a venue and a minister and reception and everything?”

“I think she may have actually enjoyed it. We’ll have to go and get a dress and tux and what-not. What do you think about maid of honor, flower-girls, whatever? Is that something we need?”

“I haven’t really thought about it, I suppose. Usually people have much longer to think about these things. I always thought my best friend Julie would be my maid of honor, but I haven’t even told her anything more than you being my boyfriend yet.”

“Well, it looks like you’ll have a busy day as well tomorrow. But let’s say we forget about that for now and go to our Starbuck’s?”

“That’s a splendid idea. Didn’t I suggest that a day or two ago?”

“Of course. I always remember everything you say.”

“Oh, you’re going to hell for saying that with a straight face,” Sophie cajoled. She found Miles’ hand and followed him out the door.

“I wish that I was off with you tomorrow,” Miles sighed over the lip of his latte.

“I wish you were, too. But you had to take today off.” Miles rolled his eyes.

“What are you going to do with your day off?”

“I don’t know. I suppose that the business bit of things is all taken care of, isn’t it? Maybe I’ll make up a romantic evening for you.”

“What would that even look like?”

“I can imagine it would be apricot, for the most part.”

“Hhmm. That does sound romantic.”

“So predictable.”

“Some women would find that comforting,” Miles contended.

“Some women want nothing more than to sprout children and cook pot roast. I prefer none of those. Mind blowing?”

“Oh, Sophie, I would not have given you the time of day if those were your only ambitions.”

“Oh, you would have, too. I’m adorable.” Miles rolled his eyes. “Dost thou contest?”

“Doth I not-I doth-“

“Bloody Americans.”

“Still carrying a grudge from that little skirmish in the eighteenth century, are we? Well, you’d better swallow your pride, because you’re about to become one of us.” Sophie rolled her eyes. “We’ll see, when you’re singing the National Anthem at a Cubs game and watching NASCAR in the double-wide.”

“I’ll be sure to mention you in my suicide note.”

They laughed with one another. They were happy to have found someone with which they shared a similar outlook. Miles had always thought things like hobbies and music and movies were the kinds of things that brought a pair into being but he was realizing more and more that there was something else to it all. Interests and palates and other ornamental things ebbed and drifted, but the way a person looked at life and responded to other people took a lifetime to form, not just a new restaurant one random night. True, anything in the dynamic life of a human being can change over time, but those things that are shaped the slowest are the ones that last the longest.

Miles hoped that the lives he and Sophie had lead before meeting one another would blend easily into one another. He was excited to see what kind of art the pottery wheel they were spinning on would make of them over the years. He was especially glad to know that they had years and years to see what shape of life would suit them the best.

Miles started the family camp work weekend in very high spirits. He and Sophie had spent another long evening talking about the future, but for some reason their conversation had made him think more so about the past. Three weeks remained in a seasonal job that had seemed much longer than six months. Mathematically, the last three weeks of six months was a very small fraction. Miles chose to see the remaining time for its potential.

They had slept together within five days of having met, and with the exception of a couple of miscommunications, had spent every night since that first carnal encounter together. Five days. That statistic made the potential of three weeks seem daunting.

Miles was also happy because someone had actually scheduled him and Sophie together on the first day. They were working on the very shed he had so meticulously prepared for during the week. It wasn’t the most glorious of tasks, putting posts into the ground and answering the questions of guests that knew even less than he did, but at the end of the day they were laughing again. This time the laughter was mainly due to their lack of carpentry skill and how silly it was for the volunteers they had worked with all day to think that they would know any better.

“Oh, Miles, I do love spending the day with you, but I’m glad that I don’t have to do that again tomorrow.” Sophie was working with the five year and younger kids the next day; keeping toddlers occupied while their parents stayed with the likes of Miles, who would be putting the finishing touches on the newest edition to the Ontonagon stable of facilities.

“Did you see the schedule for next week?” Sophie asked “Yeah. I’ve got Monday and Saturday off. You’ve got Wednesday and Thursday off.”

“I might be able to trade with Gerri on Thursday to get Monday off with you. Everyone else is in the middle of group, but she has a jobs day Thursday.”

“That would be really nice. It doesn’t look like we’re going to get anything easy these next few weeks.”

“I know. It’s making me look forward to getting out of here even more. I read the first sentence of that summer camp interest letter we got couple of days ago and tossed it in the recycling. Can you imagine?”

“I haven’t let myself.”

It was nine o’clock, too late to do much of anything but walk to the lounge to unwind for an hour or two before getting enough sleep to do it all over again. The fifty or so dollars he and Sophie made every day the camp would let them keep that pace up was the biggest motivator for Miles.

The usual crowd was in the lounge. The summer staff had acclimatized well in the few weeks they had been in camp and were becoming more and more just ‘staff’. Miles realized that if they weren’t considered so already, the crew he came in with would soon be considered ‘last season’s staff’. He shrugged and mentally bestowed his job upon the new folks with his blessing.

Miles ducked into the fridge and reached to the back of a box of generic cola until he found a pair of Coors light cans for Sophie and himself. He quickly grabbed a couple of cozies so that no one could tell what the beverages really were (nudge nudge, wink wink, say no more) and passed a camouflaged can off to Sophie.

Paul was watching some kind of extreme home videos channel so pretty much everyone was only as far out of the kitchen as was necessary to play foosball and darts. Miles leaned on the half-wall almost dividing the two rooms to watch the action between Jabari and Rocky at the foosball table. Sophie leaned on Miles.

“Sometimes I want to stay,” Sophie smiled. Miles could not see her smile, but he knew what the tone she was using meant for her face. He didn’t say anything. “Times like these, it’s fun, you know? We’re all bloody tired, but everyone’s here, having a good time, like there isn’t anything else to the whole world but playing with kids all day and doing whatever the hell we want any other time. We make enough money to do it forever; really, it’s just a two week cycle. There are no bills, no investments of any kind, no worries…It’s kind of nice.”

Miles thought about mentioning to Sophie how many times he had thought of that very same thing, but instead let her swim in her revelation as it had come to her that nondescript Saturday night in the lounge.

“I guess I’m not saying it’s a good idea forever, I mean, eventually you’d want more. We do already, when you think about it, but I’m glad to know it’s an option if you need it. I’m glad I took it. I think this place will be really easy to sugar-coat in the future. You watch, even all the shitty things will seem like less of a fuss a few years down the road.” Miles did not have a problem thinking of a few instances he hoped her candied view would apply to.

They leaned back and soaked in the scene for a moment.

“I would say we could come back next fall, but I don’t think it would be the same.”

“I don’t think so either. There’s that old saying, ‘you can’t go back’ and all. I just really had a good time here. I guess that’s what I’m after most of all. I’ve never done anything like this before.”

“I have a feeling we’re in for a whole lot of never doing anything like this before for a while.”

“We’ll just have to make sure it’s a good time then, eh?” Sophie purred, turning her neck. Miles kissed her as long as he could get away with it.

“Aaooww!,” came the loud black sigh from the foosball table.

Everyone who had been there from the beginning but Sophie was present at the completion of the shed the next morning. Miles doubted she was crying her eyes out over it, since she would be too busy playing duck-duck-goose with nursery kids. He hoped the experience wouldn’t plant any ideas of bouncing bundles of joy in her head.

Miles pretended to be busy more than he was actually occupied, which proved to be less strenuous but far more mundane.

When lunch rolled around Miles was certainly glad for the diversion. He had seen Sophie talking with Gerri ahead of him on the road to the dining hall and hoped that it meant good things.

“Well?” Miles asked.

“Not a problem!” Sophie could not contain her happiness. Before Miles could respond he mentally gloated over Sophie being thrilled to spend time with him after so many months. No other girl had ever acted in such a way and it made Miles feel good, dammit.

Miles matched Sophie’s glee. It was not hard when her eyes gave him such a good example of how to be. Her finagling meant sleeping in that night, waking up and going to breakfast late in the morning, bumming around Borders, driving through the hills, or a handful of other perfect days they had discovered during the six months they had known one another.

“This is going to make the rest of the day seem even longer, thank you very much,” Miles teased.

“How’s this, then?” Sophie asked. She leaned over and whispered something into Miles’ ear that made him thankful he did not have to stand up any time soon.

“You tease!” Miles hissed happily.

“I’m not technically a tease if I’m actually going to do it. And I am. So, technically, not a tease,” Sophie smiled. Miles realized he would have to wait even longer before standing up.

“Why do you do that to me?”

“To keep you interested, my Love.”

“Sophie, I think all kinds of lewd thoughts when you wear a snug sweater. You don’t need to go to any great lengths for me.”

“And I like that about you. But I like it when you absolutely can’t keep your hands off me the minute we’re alone, as well.”

“I love you.”

“You love sex. But you love me besides, and that’s what’s endearing about you.” Miles shook his head and tried to think of unpleasant things so he could go back to work without losing his dignity.

Miles had to wait for Sophie to finish with her charges for a few hours after dinner that evening. He was in a fantastic mood so he did a shot and had a beer or two with Jabari, Scott and Kyra to celebrate their shed. They played foosball in between gulps and before he knew it, Sophie walked into the lounge.

Miles’ stomach sank at first because he knew they must look drunk, in part because they were, but his angst was in vain.

“I know there’s more soda, right?” Sophie asked. Miles hopped like a bunny to the fridge and found Sophie a Coor’s Light. Jabari lined up a round of what proved to be tequila after the quartet he had it poured for finally recognized the flavor. Miles saw things turning into a full-fledged party and was very glad that it was only the five of them in the lounge that night, although Emma would have been welcome.

“Hey, where is Emma?” Miles asked.

“She said she was going to pass out early and get some sleep,” Jabari answered.

“That’s unacceptable,” Scott decreed. That was all it took. The three guys went on a mission to find Emma and inquire as to her actions.

“Emma, Emma, Emma!” Miles cried, jumping on her bed. Jabari and Scott followed suit. “Why are you asleep, darling? We are drinking tequila and beers and having a grand time but we need you to make things complete!”

“You guys! I’m tired. Tell me all about it tomorrow.”

“Unacceptable!” Scott cried like a conquistador. He pulled Emma by the arms to a standing position. He swung her into Jabari’s arms. “You will come with us and catch up. It is written as so.” Miles and Jabari looked at Scott appraisingly and then at one another. They laughed and dragged Emma against her will to the lounge. Any other place in America the spectacle they were making would have had police sirens swallowing them up in moments.

Jay-Z was trying to bump the room out through the tiny boom box when they walked in. The song seemed as good a reason as Emma joining the party to line up another round. Emma gave herself up to fate and kissed Quervo in one gulp, pajamas and all.

There was a party aching to be had. It was long overdue and they were going to have it even though there were six people instead of sixty. Avril Lavigne replaced Jay-Z but by that point no one cared. There was music and it was turned up as loud as it could go. Sometimes a few of them played darts, sometimes random combinations of people ended up in the kitchen talking about God knows what, sometimes there were perfect silences.

Tea - Chapter 21

Miles saw very little of Sophie the following day until the Underground Railroad simulation at the end of the evening when he traded his laborer’s cap for a sheriff’s hat.

“You look tired, sweetheart,” Miles noticed as Sophie slipped into an over-sized house dress.

“Just not used to working with a group all day,” she smiled. “How did the rest of your day go?”

“Nothing exciting. We hauled a bunch of boards to separate piles so people can slap together an addition to the storage shed this weekend. Mindless stuff, more of the same tomorrow.”

“I know as soon as we get done with this I’ll be wide awake and want to stay up all night in the lounge or something,” Sophie lamented.

“That’s how it always goes, Miles agreed. He wasn’t feeling tired in the least. He had worked all day, just as Sophie had, and done some pretty heavy labor at some points but physical work had something on working with a group sometimes. In group situations a person was not only running around with kids all day, but figuring out logistics, learning names, and gauging the group every step of the way. There was a lot more to the whole picture than most people thought. Miles certainly knew where Sophie was coming from. He massaged her shoulder and kissed the side of her head before they made for their hiding spot in the closet upstairs from where they were getting prepared for the show.

Sophie smiled up at Miles. “If we stay up all night, we stay up all night, hey?” Miles was glad to see Sophie perk up. “Let’s go to Starbucks and Borders the next time we get a chance. We haven’t done that in a while.”

“Ah, the classic Miles and Sophie date.”

“I just like it because I don’t have to talk to you the whole bloody time,” Sophie smirked.

“There she is.”

“Oh, you like it. Look at me, won’t you?”

Miles did. “What?”

“I’m giving you my ‘kiss me’ face. You know this face.” Miles had seen it before but was unaware the look had a special name. Sophie’s chin was jutted out a bit and her eyes her half-closed. Her lips were struggling to hold back a pucker. Miles obliged Sophie’s pose before stepping into the closet.

“Good boy.”

“I just kissed you to be nice. I don’t have to, you know?”

“Oh, you don’t, eh?” Sophie pressed her hands to Miles’ elbows to push herself up to his face. She moved her lips across his cheek and then almost over her lips. She pulled back just as Miles was about to go for her. “Ah, no. You don’t have to kiss me.”

Miles swiftly curled his arms around her and took his kiss.

“I knew it,” Sophie cooed.

“Well, you’ve done it now,” Miles answered.

“What?” Sophie gripped her answer.

“Well, that’s not going to make it any better, now is it?”

Sophie rubbed her hand along Miles’ obviousness. “This probably isn’t helping either, is it?”

“What in the world has gotten into you? I knew we should have never shagged in that cabin.”

“That was your idea. I can’t help it if I liked it.”

“That doesn’t help either, you. Stop. But you know you’ve gotten yourself into something first thing when we get back.”

Sophie let go and yawned. “I don’t think so; not tonight. I’m tired.”

“Well, then it’s a good thing you don’t have to be awake for it, isn’t it?”

“That’s just wrong, there. I better just let you do what you need to do then, eh?”

“I’ll make it worth your while.”

“You always do. I wouldn’t tease you if I didn’t want to have some fun.”

The kids started filing the room; there arrival was never any small affair. Miles and Sophie went mute and listened for their key phrase like dogs trained to play slave trader.

“Whew, I knew I did that for a reason,” Sophie huffed. She squeezed Miles closer to her, which was hard to do since he was already lying on top of her, just as out of breath. “I needed that.”

“Me, too.”

“You always need that.”

“You’re no prude.”

“It’s all from you.”

The banter was typical of most of their post-sex conversations. To anyone listening through the walls they may have sounded like two children who had just exhausted themselves jumping again and again into a huge pile of freshly raked leaves.

“We should probably take the sock off of the doorknob and see what everyone else is up to.”

“I suppose you’re right.” The Underground Railroad simulation had ended at just after nine that night. Miles and Sophie were lying next to a digital clock that had yet to reach ten o’clock. They were slightly disoriented as they got out of bed and put their clothes back on. The chilly air that greeted them outside the door set them straight in a hurry.

“Look at these two,” Jabari chuckled. “That was a convenient absence.” They both shrugged and smiled, remembering the first night they had slept together in Boston. Jabari had been there to call them out that time, as well.

It was hard to fault a guy who mixed you drinks, however, and Jabari presented a pair of rum and Cokes to the lovebirds before they had even thought it seemed like a good idea. They clinked the beverages as well as plastic cups clink and drank a salute.

“Do you ever want to stay in bed all day long and forget about the world?”

“All the time. But one of us has to be the grounded one.” Sophie countered.

“I swear, if you were a regular starry-eyed girl…”

“We’d be living in the south of France eating at cafés every day and taking trips to the vineyard. I know, you’ve told me. But right now we have to work and you’re not making it any easier. I love you for it, though.”

“I love you, too.”

Sophie soaked it in, but only for a moment. “Come on, Mushy.”

“Am not.”

“Don’t even argue it.” Miles felt the damp heat of Sophie roll away from his leg and knew there was nothing else that he could do. Miles stayed in bed long enough to watch Sophie stand up and walk to his closet. She looked like a Calvin Klein commercial as she folded a shirt over her breasts and looked back at Miles.

“What?”

“My favorite part of the morning,” Miles said simply. Sophie snorted but the hidden curl of her lips sweetened the sound of the air she expelled.

“Later, for all that.”

“Sorry. You just do it for me sometimes.”

“Well, I should hope I do it for you every time because you’re stuck with me now.” Miles waited for Sophie to cover her southern hemisphere before breaking free from the blankets that bound him to the bed.

“It never hurts to dream,” Miles said, hugging Sophie tightly, before putting on his attire.

“No. I’m glad for it. But don’t listen to that. You don’t need any more reason.”

“Hey, before you came along I would have slapped some sense into a guy like I’ve become. You probably do this to everyone you date.”

“I don’t think so,” Sophie turned in Miles’ arms to meet his eyes. “Besides, I’m marrying you. There’s a difference. I had better make you want to run away with me forever.” Miles smiled at how much sense Sophie always made. They finished getting ready for work and stepped outside.

Miles was surprised at how much fun it was to work jobs with Jabari, Scott, and Kyra. The second day they spent in the trenches was still in preparation for the weekend’s Family Camp. The majority of the quartet’s tasks were designed to lighten the load for the volunteers coming in that Friday. Lumber was organized, put into different piles and painted so that the only thing needed to complete the shed was nailing boards together like a giant 3-D puzzle.

Miles, Jabari, and Scott picked up where they had left off the day before; painting two-by-fours a sort of dried-blood red. Dan, the head maintenance man, liked Kyra’s company and had her up on the roof of another shed a few yards away helping get measurements for a new roof.

“Seems like we were here not too long ago making these boards,” Scott commented.

“You’re right, I almost forgot about that,” Miles said.

“I sure as hell didn’t. This is pretty much our shed, and somebody’s going to come along this weekend, prop these boards on end, stick a couple of nails in them, and take all our glory.” This was from Jabari.

“What are you going to do, man? We get some free work out of these people and they get that happy ‘I helped someone’ sense of accomplishment. And we get hours. Everyone wins. I mean, we’ll be getting around sixteen hours with this group, easily.”

“That will be nice.”

“What are you doing after this, Jabari?”

“I’m going to try to get a job as a youth counselor somewhere, more inside stuff like an after-school center or something, Boys and Girls Club, I don’t know.”

“You shouldn’t have a hard time landing that,” Miles said. Jabari shook his head.

The conversation ambled on as they leisurely slathered paint onto their homemade boards. They talked mostly about things they had talked about dozens of times before, mostly to drown out the country music blaring tinnily from Dan’s radio.

Lunchtime came around with nothing of note happening during the morning hours. The four at the shed site were only working until four-thirty that day, the same hours as any other maintenance person stuck to. Only having four hours of work after lunch was a welcome change as well for the four affected, but they made sure not to brag about it to the ones stuck with the big school spending their second of three days in the camp.

Miles could see the fatigue in Sophie’s demeanor even though she seemed happy with her group.

They went through the usual ‘how’s your day going’ banter as they ate and parted seemingly moments after they sat down.

“I need to do something for that girl tonight,” Miles commented on the way back to the work site. “She’s tired and stressed out about the wedding and everything. Not having the same times off toward the end here probably isn’t helping either.”

“So, a bath with rose petals and a hot stone massage?” Scott joked.

“No, maybe I’ll rent some sappy movie or something. We’ve watched all the Netflix stuff I had. Make some tea or something. She needs a bit of relaxation, I can tell.”

“Yeah, man, that wedding stuff has got to be hard to tackle with all this going on.”

“And thinking about grad school to boot. I should call my parents tonight, speaking of all that.”

“They’ve never met Sophie, have they?” Miles shook his head.

“They will in a month or so. I’ll meet hers then as well, I suppose.”

“That’ll be weird.” Miles nodded and started prying open a can of paint.

“You guys are coming, right? You too, Jabari.”

“Planning on it. We’ll have to see how the new job thing pans out.”

“Same here,” Jabari said, “Although, I guess since I haven’t started looking yet, I can put off doing that a little while longer.”

“Well, I hope you can be there. God, I haven’t even thought of invitations yet. Am I supposed to do that?”

“Hell if I know. Why do you think I’m not married yet?”

“Well, I’m not crazy about the rush, but with Sophie being from an exotic land and all…”

“Right, right.”

“Ah, if anybody belongs being married, it’s the two of you,” Jabari said, settling the conversation.

The three guys settled into painting once again. When they finally saw Dan climbing off the roof they had painted almost all of the boards.

The four Jobs people felt a bit sheepish clocking out at four-thirty, especially when they could hear groups of kids and staffers from every direction.

Miles, for one, did not mind having a hot shower before dinner. Scott had gone to Kyra’s so Miles had their cabin all to himself, which was a rarity, considering it housed four normally.

Miles sat on his bed for a moment thinking about what he could do for Sophie that night to give her some unwinding time. His best bet was to rent a movie she would like and just being there with her. He shrugged mentally when he heard the dinner bell and walked down staff row towards the dining hall.

Sophie seemed about the same when Miles sat beside her at the staff table that evening.

“What time are you finished?”

“I’m doing dishes after this until the campfire. I’ll be done about nine, I hope.”

“Well, come to my place when you get done, okay?” Sophie looked at Miles questioningly. “Just do it,” He answered.

“Okay. You have tomorrow off, don’t you?” Miles nodded. “Will you call your mom about the wedding plans?”

“Yeah, I’m going to spend time on that tomorrow, definitely.”

“What have you got planned tonight?”

“What do you mean?”

“Miles, I know you better than that. You’re acting all sneaky. You’re up to something.”

“No, no. You jump to conclusions.” Nevertheless, Sophie’s new smile showed no signs of leaving her lips.

They finished dinner with the usual partings and Miles immediately drove into town, excited by the way he had brightened Sophie’s evening. He just hoped his plan wouldn’t disappoint.

Miles browsed Blockbuster in search of the perfect movie: a movie Sophie would love and he wouldn’t mind watching. He thought he found it in a movie called ‘Serendipity’. On the surface it looked like a cheesy romance movie, after reading the back Miles thought it might have a little more going for it. There wasn’t anything else that wasn’t overly syrupy or that just did not fit the bill at all.

Miles arrived back at Ontonagon just after seven o’clock. He cleaned up the cabin and dusted a couple of candles off. He snuck into Sophie’s cabin and stole her bathrobe back to his bed; then waited. Well, he went down the lounge to play darts with Jabari for a bit, but after that he waited.

Sophie opened Miles’ door right on time. The sad little candles were lit and casting halos on the ceiling, samples of Shiraz were aerating in glasses on the nightstand next to his bed, and the movie he had picked out was ready to go on his laptop.

“Miles Drake. Did you do all of this for me?”

‘It isn’t much. Do you want to take a shower?” He motioned to her robe hanging on the inside of the open bathroom door.

“That sounds lovely. I don’t suppose you would care to join me?”

“It had crossed my mind, to be honest.”

“It better have,” Sophie smiled devilishly. She hooked Miles’ pinkie with hers and led him into the bathroom.

Their shower was just shy of an NC-17 rating. It had the intended affect of Sophie, however, as far as Miles was concerned. By the time they got into bed Sophie was as warm and soft as a blanket in a sunbeam.

Miles passed Sophie a glass of wine. They sipped slowly and deeply, draining half the contents of their vessels on the first try.

“Miles, this is your last bottle,” Sophie moaned.

“We’ll be back in Chicago soon enough. They have stores there that sell this stuff every day of the year.”

“I didn’t know it was such a special occasion.”

“It’s not. Well, I suppose it’s as special as any other time we do this sort of thing which is to say, they all deserve a last bottle of wine, if you ask me.”

Sophie shivered. “You do realize this is why you get to have your way with me every single night.”

“You’ve had your way with me just as much, I think. Or maybe I just like it when you think that.”

“You do like it. You don’t have to do any bloody work when I won’t let your hands free.” Miles smiled uncontrollably and drank the rest of his wine. Sophie followed suit and he poured fresh depths into their glasses before starting the movie.

Miles wasn’t sure how far the movie had played before they lost track of the screen and became far more interested in what was happening under the covers, but even after they emerged it seemed as though the characters were nowhere near the life-altering events and realizations that signaled the finale of the movie. They saw the rest of the story unfold on the screen but couldn’t say they really watched the rest of the movie. Call it post-coital cataracts.

“Hhmm. That was good, Sophie murmured once the credits rolled.

“Which do you mean?”

Sophie raised her eyebrows though her lids were closed. She nuzzled closer to Miles. He saw it as the cue to flip the top of the computer down with his big toe and roll to Sophie.

Tea - Chapter 20

Thursday was the second of the only two official days off that Miles and Sophie had the third week of May. They started on a rare weekend group at three in the afternoon the next day and worked with them off and on through Sunday afternoon. By that point they were thrilled to get the hours since neither of them had seen a workweek pass thirty hours for almost a month. They already had twenty hours in the books with a rough estimate of fourteen more coming after a day of respite.
Not that they needed it. Sophie was slumped against Miles’ legs on one of the couches in the lounge. She was braiding the tassels of a shabby gold pillow that, had it been a dog, would have been euthenized long ago. Miles was tossing a cell phone-sized foam football straight above his head and catching it before it bounced off his nose.
“We should go camping,” Miles ventured. The effort of conversation caused him to lose focus on the football, which bounced off of his shoulder and rolled with a wobble underneath the opposite couch.
“What are you talking about?” Sophie did not lose her focus on her pillow braids.
“Do you remember when we hiked up to the top of that hill this winter? Where you could see camp like one of those Christmas postcards? And we said it would be a good place to camp?” Sophie nodded but Miles could not tell whether it was in recognition of the event. “Anyways, it’s pretty warm at night now. We should get one of those big tents from the camping room and some supplies and stuff and go on an overnight. I bet we could get Scott and Kyra to go. It would give us something different to do than spending money in town or…doing whatever it is you’re doing there.”
“I don’t know.” Sophie said of her pillow project. She tossed the accent to the couch the football was hiding under. “That could be fun. I mean, even if it rains or whatever, it’s what, a fifteen minute walk back down here?”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m not talking about trailblazing or anything. Just something quiet and different. Campfire, jug of wine, hotdogs, all that good stuff.”
“What kind of Boy Scout troop were you in?”
“Troop Point-Two-Oh,” Miles laughed.
“What am I going to do with you?”
“Tame my wild ways and make a good husband out of me.”
“You wish. I don’t have that kind of time to spend.”
“Well then you’re lucky I started out so perfectly.” Sophie found another pillow to throw at her lot in life.
“I’m game to camp out. It’s not as though we’re going to be here forever, are we?”
“Hardly any time at all.”
“I wish we would hear something about the visa and all that.”
“You can’t worry if I’m not allowed to, babe. We just have to get married. We’re not trying to pull a fast one or anything. It’s legit. This is why the system is in place. It’ll go flawlessly. Don’t worry.”
“I know. And I know that if it doesn’t, you’ll run away with me to an island somewhere forever.”
“No question. Come here.” Sophie joined Miles at his end of the couch. Miles kissed Sophie’s head in reassurance as she got situated. They watched dust float through the sunbeam in front of the big glass windows that lined the opposite wall of the living room until they heard someone kicking mud off of boots outside the door. Jabari came through the door shortly after his ruckus gave him away.
“Aawwoooww, look at you two. That’s sooo cute.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Layoff, we’re getting married. What are you up to?”
“Shit. Just seeing if anyone was down here, maybe grab some Jack. I’ve been playing Madden in my room all day.”
“Well, hey, man, while you’re here, would you be down to trek up to the top of that hill and camp out Sunday night?”
“Sure. Who’s going?”
“Hopefully not too many people, not to sound like a bastard, but the four of us, you and Emma?”
“The gang, huh?”
“Yeah, the gang. One last time? Get some hotdogs and marshmallows, some Jack, whatever?”
“That sounds a hell of a lot better than what I’ve been doing the past few weeks. I’m in.”
“Hey, keep it kind of down huh? There are some undesirables lurking about.”
Jabari knew the singular person Miles was referring to. “Wouldn’t have it any other way, man.” Jabari continued into the kitchen, poured himself a drink, and left Miles and Sophie on their own again.
“That’ll be a good time,” Miles sighed, curling into Sophie.
“Yeah, but until then, what are we going to do?”
“How abou-“
“Not that. I swear, I shag you entirely too much I think you’re an addict.”
“It seems like I’ve heard you say that before. How did you even know I was going to say that?”
“Oh, please. The only thing that’s a mystery is what you did with your time before you had me.”
“That’s quite simple, really. I thought about what it would be like to shag a woman just like you.” Miles brace himself for an elbow to the ribs.
“I don’t know whether to be flattered or insulted.”
“Then just kiss me.”
“Ok.” After a long intermission Sophie spoke again. “Can you imagine what it will be like to be doing this in our own living room? Even if it’s some dank flat in a run-down part of town, it will be ours, you know?”
“I think we’ll do pretty well, with the money we’ve been saving, and my assistantship. Without you, though, I’d be living in the crack district.”
“Don’t you forget it, either.”
“I think it’ll be great, Sophie.” Miles added to his mental cobwebs for a moment. “Sophie, what are you going to do in Chicago?”
There was a pregnant pause before Sophie spoke. “I don’t know, Miles.”
“I just…I just hate the thought of you working some crappy job because of me.”
“If that happens it’s because our decision has already been made. Worst case scenario, it lasts a year, maybe two?”
“I know, but I want you to be happy-“
“Miles, quit. We’ve been through this before. I told you to stop once. I’m not going to tell you again.”
“I don’t want to hold you back from anything you could have been without me.”
“Then be the best you can be. Take care of your obligations, and then we can worry about mine. That’s what long-term means. We may have to go about it one person at a time, but we’ll both get what we need in the end. I told you to trust me about this.”
“You’ll get everything you want. It’s just a timing thing, right?”
“Right. You got an assistantship to graduate school. It’s paid for and they pay you. How often is that going to come up?”
“Thank you, Sophie.”
“I love you. I wouldn’t take any other option even if there was one.”
“Just promise me you’ll hold me to my end of the deal.”
“Agreed.”

After a late morning of slothful cuddling Miles and Sophie reported to the office to get their schedules for the weekend group. Their first assignment was to walk around camp unlocking the cabin and program areas together, which was an easy way to earn an hour’s pay. They could not help smiling as they held hands and jingled keys; being paid to take a stroll.
Miles finally sat Sophie down on a couch in a random cabin.
“What is it, Miles? You look like you’ve got something important to say.”
“I do. I love you.”
“I love-“
“No, no. I love you. And every time I say that, the meaning changes. Every single time I love you another way. I don’t want you to do this. It’s not fair to you. I want you to go back to England and forget all this.”
“You’re out of your goddamned mind.”
“No, Sophie, I’m not. I love you. I will always love you. But you’re going to grow to despise me if I make you stay in Chicago for two years. I don’t want you to do that. I want you to remember some stupid trip abroad where you met a guy or whatever.”
“It’s too late for that, you fucking twit. Fucking dump me or don’t.” Sophie stared at Miles for ages. He had never seen her so furious. “I thought so. What the fuck was that about?”
“Sophie, you’re going to hate me.”
“And you can’t bear the thought of me being slightly less than thrilled from time to time because that doesn’t fit into your storybook romance eh? Well get used to it, because this is fucking life and that’s the way it goes. We’ve sucked one another in and that’s just the way it is so you had better learn to fucking live with it. I am so disappointed in you right now, Miles. You need to pull it together or we’re never going to make it.”
“Fuck. You know what? I’m done with this.” Miles hoisted himself off the couch and out the door.

“Get up, man.” It was Jabari at Miles’ door. Miles propped himself up to answer. “Man, what were you trying to pull yesterday? Your girl’s been crying her eyes out all day, both of you are worthless right now.”
“Jabari, sorry-“
“She told us what happened, man. She told us. I’m your friend, you know that, man. I’ll help you out whenever. But you fucked up. You need to get your shit straight, and now. You need to go talk to Sophie.” Miles got up and pulled some clean clothes on.
Sophie’s cabin was dark when Miles entered, but he could smell her even before his eyes and ears adjusted.
“Sophie?”
“What?”
“Can I come in?”
“Miles, don’t even ask. You know you can get in this bed any time you want to.” Miles exercised the privilege.
“I want you to run away, you know that?”
“I know that would make it easier for you. But it’s not going to be easy, Miles. I don’t know how many other ways I can say it. But I’m tired of it. I know that little stunt you pulled is not you. I know you better than that and I know exactly what you were trying to do.”
Miles curled close to Sophie and she let him. He could not think of anything to say. They slept.
“You won’t do that again.” Sophie said as soon as they both woke up. Miles nodded. Sophie felt it against her cheek. “You scared me. I thought you were going to do something crazy.”
“This whole damned thing is crazy, Sophie. I got overwhelmed.”
“Well, I’m glad you didn’t go get pissed on top of it all, but you still need to come to me, not run away from everything.”
“I’m sorry I made you cry.”
“I’ll get over it. It was a good way to relieve some stress, if nothing else.”
“I barely remember working today. Not that sitting at the archery range for hours is anything worth remembering anyways.”
“I had dishes after dinner with Paul and Gerri.”
Miles chuckled weakly. “Always topping me.”
“Somebody’s got too. What time is it?”
“Almost nine.”
“Let’s just sleep here tonight. I don’t feel like moving.”
“You want to go to bed already?”’
“I’ve had a long and very emotional day, miles. I’m bloody tired. You can watch me sleep or something cheesy like that. I’m sure you’ve said that before.”
“You like cheesy stuff.”
“Ugh, I bloody hate it, you twit.” Miles could hear the smile in Sophie’s voice. He kissed the side of her head.
“If you want to go to bed then we can go to bed. I probably owe you big.”
“There’s an understatement.” Sophie drug Miles’ arm with her as she curled up. Goodnight, Miles. I love you.”
“I love you too, Sophie girl.”

“I didn’t even ask Scott and Kyra about camping yet,” Miles realized as he put on the same clothes he had worn the day before. It was Sunday morning and he and Sophie were getting ready to finish out the weekend group. “We should go up today if it’s nice out.”
“It was warm yesterday. You and Jabari are coming too,” Sophie said, switching her comment from Miles to Emma in mid-sentence.
They all left the girls’ cabin together for the dining hall. It was still a bit chilly in the mornings and soon Miles had two shivering girls around his arms. He shook his head with a smile and gave the fair-haired one a kiss.
All-too familiar sounds and smells greeted the yellow-bricking trio when they entered the dining hall. Miles sat next to Scott and after checking for eavesdroppers wasted no time in telling him of their plans for the evening.
“Just get one of those big ass expedition tents that weigh, like, forty pounds?”
“Why not? It’s just a night and all we’ll be doing is passing out after the campfire. It’s mostly just in case of rain. I might just sleep out if I can get Sophie to go along with it.”
“What the hell. I’ll run into town after work and get that five liter jug of Carlo Rossi-“
“Piasano.”
“Of course, and some hotdogs or something. That should be about it, right?”
“Yeah, that should be fine. If we get up there at around eight or so we should have just enough time to set the tent up and get a fire going before it gets too dark to see anything.”
“Sounds good, man.” Their conversation filled the duration of the campers getting their breakfasts so they were just in time to stand in line for their own meals.

“Oh, I don’t feel like cleaning cabins today,” Sophie sighed as she flopped onto the couch of her and Miles’ assigned cleaning detail. Miles sat beside her a bit more gracefully.
“So, let’s do something else first,” Miles ventured.
“What are you talking ab- Oohh…” Sophie’s words were cut short when Miles leaned over and slowly kissed her neck. His arms were around her waist almost simultaneously.
“Miles! Here? These couches are probably-“
“We’ll leave our clothes on.”
“In the middle of the day?”
“We won’t have a chance tonight. And we’ve never done this before.”
“Getting paid to have sex, eh? What kind of girl do you think I am?”
Miles was still kissing Sophie convincingly. His hands had also joined the debate. “Exactly the kind of girl I want to marry.”
Sophie’s answer was more sounds than words by then. She let Miles slide her down onto the couch.
“Ok, but we have to do this quickly. And you don’t get to tell anyone about this ever,” Sophie cooed, arching her back for Miles’ embrace.
“Agreed,” Miles answered, before ending their conversation with the kiss he knew Sophie wanted. She relaxed and encouraged Miles in her own ways.

With a renewed vigor for their task, Miles and Sophie still ended cleaning at around the same time that everyone else did.
The clock stated four in the afternoon when one of them finally bothered to look after taking a quick shower in Miles’ cabin.
“What do we do now, Love?” Miles was still in his underwear in the main room and Sophie had not even made it that far yet, both having decided that Scott and Kyra had left for town. Sophie took advantage of the privacy by sliding her hands down the back of Miles’ shorts and squeezing his cheeks smartly.
“Ow! You got frisky all of a sudden?”
“I guess I ended up having more fun than I thought I would this afternoon?”
“Hmm, you had fun?’ Miles pulled her into his arms as much to keep her from getting grabby as wanting to hold her.
“I had fun twice,” she giggled, biting his collarbone lightly. Miles chuckled.
“Good, good. I had fun, too.”
“Well, it’s pretty obvious when you have fun. I still feel a bit full of you. And you make a face.”
“Sophie! That’s…uncouth. And I do not make a face.”
“It’s calling it what it is, and you do too make a face. It’s a cute face, though, not like a porn star painful face.” Miles just shook his head.
“Ok, nymph, let’s get dressed before anyone sees our asses again.”
“Agreed. Except I don’t have any clothes over here.”
“What? You must.”
“I don’t. Remember? We did laundry last week and cleaned everything I had out of here. I haven’t left anything since then.”
“Well, then, you’ll just have to shrug into something of mine and go get something to wear.”
“Ok, but you’re coming with me.” Miles shrugged. He found a shirt he knew Sophie liked and a pair of pajama bottoms. They stepped outside to greet most of the staff coming up the row from signing out at the office.
“Oh, my God, you two are ridiculous,” Jabari guffawed, pointing at the both of them when his hand wasn’t clasped over his mouth. Christopher and Sergio were giggling like middle schoolers, and Gerri and Emma were as red as Sophie.
“Shut up!” she squeaked, “We’re getting married!”
“What does that have to do with any damn thing?” Jabari asked, taking a short break from his laughter.
“We love each other!”
“Oh, my God! Just Go! Whatever you were about to go do, just go do it. You two crack me up!”
Sophie took Miles’ hand and ran into her cabin with him. As soon as she shut the door, as she had in the dining hall the morning she had dropped her breakfast tray, Sophie started laughing uncontrollably.
“We are ridiculous!” She finally managed to say.
“So be it. That’s probably why it all works for us.” Miles kissed Sophie with gusto before she shed the pajama bottoms to find some warmer pants that fit her more snugly, which Miles did not mind the look of at all. They finally sat on the bed for a moment and Miles let his mind wander.
“You know what I like the most about you?” He finally asked of Sophie.
“No; is this going to be cheesy?”
“I don’t think so. I like that I never, even for a second, felt like I needed to pretend to be something I’m not to impress you. I guess I did impress you after all, but I never put on an act or anything with you.”
“I would have seen right through it.”
“And you would have had nothing to do with me. I think I got that from you even from the beginning. And you never pretended to be anything else for me. I don’t like that. Because then when the person starts acting like themselves they act disappointed that you don’t like them anymore when you never really knew what you liked in the first place. And I know I’ve done that before with girls. I’m just glad I didn’t do it with you.”
“I’m glad as well.”
“It’s strange, though. You’re by far the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever dated, let alone your personality and everything else about you. I should have been making an ass of myself to try to get to you. So maybe we are ridiculous. But that’s who we are, and it works, so what the hell?”
“Well put; and only mildly cheesy.” Sophie leaned over, which turned into rolling on top of Miles, and kissed him. “I love you.”
“You’re so cheesy.”

Miles and Sophie procured a tent from the expedition room and hike it up to the top of the hill they planned to spend the night on. There was still no sign of Scott and Kyra, but if anyone knew that anything could happen to a pair of star-crossed bumblers, it was the two people experimentally setting up a massive canvas tent on top of the highest hill in the area.
Before too long Jabari and Emma came huffing up the trail and tried to lend a hand. With a few more hands their temporary home was finally erected. They had no sooner set about the comparatively easier task of finding wood and building a fire than Scott and Kyra ambled up the hill with a pair of large brown paper bags.
“There they are; after we’ve set everything up!” Miles exasperated sarcastically.
“Hey, back off. We brought the food. As soon as you get that fire made there, we can cook some of it.” Scott started laying out the spread, which included hotdogs, Jiffy Pop in the foil pie pans, S’mores stuff and booze, along with some odds and ends.
“Why did you buy these big ass cans of beans?” Jabari asked
“Well, they seemed like something we should have at a campfire meal. I dunno; it was an impulse buy.”
“Well, YeeHaaw! This is a real cowboy state of affairs, now, isn’t it?” Jabari cajoled, throwing an invisible ten-gallon hat into the wind.
“Something like that?”
“Whoever eats that stuff is sleeping outside tonight,” Kyra groaned.
“Oh, no, that’s for in case it gets cold,” Scott reasoned.
Things worked out pretty much as they had planned during breakfast that morning, which by sunset seemed a million miles in the past. They had food cooking and cheap wine warming their bellies by the time the last of the orange in the sky left the hills their campsite looked out over.
They upped the wattage of the fire when night fell and finished off the main courses before the night temperature could do its worse, which wasn’t really all that bad at the end of May.
“This was a good idea,” Scott said, as he positioned himself in front of the fire with one of the pans of Jiffy Pop. Soon the pan was rumbling and everyone was listening to the activity within it as much as they had been watching the flames slap the sky. It was as though an entire season of exhaustion, satisfaction, and good times were reminding the six people under the stars of why they went on adventures like the last five months of winter camp in the first place.
“Yeah; it was fun.” Miles didn’t think about whether he was talking about that evening or that season. He felt Sophie move closer to him on their log and was reminded of how fortunate he was to be taking something so wonderful away with him from the whole experience. Miles looked around the campfire and hoped he could stay in touch with the people caught in the glow. He had a feeling that with Sophie to back him up the connections would be a lot easier to maintain.
The popcorn finally signaled that it was ready by silencing the hailstorm inside the bubble of foil extending from Scott’s hand that the fire’s heat had formed. The finished product was passed around the ring of log seats and the conversation resumed.
“Do you know how much nasty shit I threw out of that fridge?” Emma cried, picking up the empty hotdog package for illustration. “There was orange juice in there with mold growing out of the top of the carton, I swear to God; and your raw chicken!” She punched Jabari’s shoulder as hard as she could, which hardly phased the six-foot-five point guard.
“Yeah, that place is gross.”
“We tried to clean it for a bit,” Sophie said, “But we just couldn’t keep up with it.” Miles nodded his agreement. He remembered more than a few frivolous arguments about the state of the lounge with Sophie and others over the months.
“Ah, well. We’ll clean it up one last time maybe before we leave. Or leave it for the new staff that have to live there,” Miles laughed. They Cheered to that.
“We took a lot of trips in the first part of the season, didn’t we?” Scott commented.
“Yeah, we did.”
“We used to all hang out together a lot more.”
“I guess people just started showing their true character a little more as the months wore on.” Miles nudged Sophie to help her recollect their earlier conversation. She squeezed his hand in acknowledgement.
“Saw a lot of Stuff, though. New York, Boston…”
“I’m really glad I got to see a lot of that stuff,” Emma said. “We can’t all stay in the U.S. forever.”
“Ugh, who would want to?” Sophie joked.
They were on the verge of making B.F.F. pacts, but fortunately the wine caught up with them before anything so dramatic came about. They decided it would be more fun to wake up in a crowded tent than scattered about and chattering around the site and sequestered themselves inside the canvas walls they had erected none too shabbily.

“Oi, it’s bloody freezing in here, itn’t it?” Emma was serving as the group’s alarm clock the following morning. Miles was inclined to agree with her but he also figured it to be quite early and despite the nip in the air he was not feeling bad at all. Sophie was curled into him under the sleeping bag they had opened up to share so that only his exposed parts felt any chill, and none of them had drunk enough to be hung over that morning. Miles remembered seeing the three liter bottle being over half-full when they had finally called it a night, which was really only about midnight, so Miles supposed that being up at seven or eight or whatever time of the morning it was was most likely the natural cycle of things. Ah, Nature.
Miles ignored Emma and buried his head under the sleeping bag with Sophie.
“I have to pee,” She whispered.
“Ok.”
“I want you to come with me.”
“To pee?”
“Yeah. Well, not right with me, but come out with me.” Miles chalked it up to one of those things a guy just has to do without any questions and crawled outside of the tent with Sophie. He followed her to a point until she wanted him to act as a lookout. When Miles assured Sophie that he could night see her she disappeared behind a tree.
When Sophie finished she sprung up from the scenery and trotted back to Miles. She mumbled something about being cold but Miles knew by then that it would do no good to go back into the tent because he had heard rumblings from inside the dew-stained walls as he waited. When they turned to look they saw that Scott had already made it to the fire, which had not been hard to resuscitate, by the looks of it.
“Breakfast will be up in just a second,” he said, motioning to an old tea kettle half-buried in a pile of glowing coals at one end of the ring. By the time Miles had scrambled and found the jackets he and Sophie had come up the hill with, Scott was holding a steaming tin cup of…Miles smacked his lips and thought.
“Wine?”
“Yeah, man. Mulled wine. You’ve never had it? My parents do it all the time at Christmas. Usually it’s with better wine, but it’s supposed to bring out the flavors more.”
Miles took another taste. “A hot drink is a hot drink,” He concluded. Scott poured cups for everyone as they made their way out of the tents and soon had a second pot warming to serve a second round. In between courses everyone pitched in to pull down the tent and clean up after themselves. In less than a half an hour everyone was on their second hearty mug of mulled wine and had forgotten all about the cold weather that had created them a little over an hour before.
There was really no reason to make haste back to camp since everyone at the morning fire had at least that day off. They were starting to get more school groups in by the looks of the schedule some of them had picked up from the office the afternoon before so there would not be as much slack time as there had been during the low point in the season that had run from the last half of March to the end of April.
“Schools must be doing their end of the year field trips or something,” Miles commented on what most of them viewed as a fortunate amount of hours. He himself only had that Monday off and the coming Thursday, which would have been unheard of six weeks prior. He was looking at a schedule of doing jobs all day until everyone jumped on board for an enormous weekend family camp, which was a weekend where families got to stay at the camp for free in exchange for working a few shifts doing assorted chores to get the place ready for summer camp. Miles did not like the fact, however, that his next day off was scheduled for Thursday, and Sophie’s other day off was Friday.
“And it looks like we’ll both be working late with groups on the day the other one has off,” Sophie added. It was the first time that they had not been scheduled the exact same way. It did not bother Miles too much, surely they could both handle a day or two apart, but he hoped that it would not become a trend with whoever was doing the scheduling.
Miles decided to let it go and enjoy his unexpected and by that point quite heady wine buzz. The schedule, after all, had shown him what could shape up to be a forty hour or even longer work week and for that he was thankful.
“Well, it looks like we’ll all have a busy week this week,” Miles concluded, putting an arm around Sophie’s side to beckon her closer.
“Good timing for this trip, then. Who knows if we’ll all have the same block of time off again?” Scott wondered. Everyone nodded in agreement and continued watching the camp below.
“What a random place,” Miles said.
“What a random group of people,” Kyra added.
“What a lot of fun,” Sophie finished. Everyone nodded.

Tea - Chapter 19

Chapter 19

The long day that Sophie and Miles were only looking forward to because of its coffer-filling implications started at eight in the morning. The rarely used outdoor education resources the camp owned needed to be set out and in some cases set up before the school arrived at nine that morning. Jabari, Paul, Sergio, and Christopher were the only ones not working with the group of eighty students so the set up was done with a solid (and paid) half an hour before the busses rolled into Ontonogan.
Once their charges arrived there was nothing for the staff to do other than dive right into their routine. As they went through expectations and staff introductions Miles realized that they were in league with any troupe of professional actors. From the first words out of their mouths to the last goodbyes the following day the Ontonogan staff would pretend to be something else. The enthusiasm and happiness they paraded for their guests, though they truly enjoyed their jobs when they were given a moment to reflect, was for the most part a farce. No one was as excited as they pretended to be over programs they had presented to blurred faces dozens of times already.
That being said, Miles did have fun that day. The full time involvement afforded him no time to mull over the complications that had fraught his life in recent months. They were good problems to have, for sure, but occasionally it was nice to forget about them and concentrate instead on getting a group of fifth graders through the challenge course.
Miles had almost forgotten what it was like, at that late point in the season, to only see Sophie at meals or across the way during the day. He did not care for it and told Sophie as much at dinner that evening.
“I’m afraid that there’s not much I can do for you, love. In a couple of months we’ll be stumbling over one another every day.”
Miles smiled and they continued talking about their groups between bites.
The Underground Railroad simulation followed dinner that night. The students were treated to a half-hour break to gossip in their cabins while the staff set up props, donned costumes, and found hiding places.
Miles and Sophie hid in the closet of the room that the simulation began in, which was by then their customary location. They heard the kids file in and Dennis begin the usual story. At the pre-determined key phrase in the tale everyone on staff jumped out of their hiding places in the room or stormed through the doors to ‘capture’ the kids and start the simulation.
After the activity was finished a short campfire finished the evening at around a quarter to ten.
“Well, there’s fourteen hours,” Miles sighed with satisfaction after weaving an arm between Sophie’s hip and elbow. They were walking up staff row, which had been in a festive mood ever since the campfire party. With almost exactly one month left everyone seemed resigned and relaxed. Normally after working all day everyone would shuffle to bed in anticipation of the next day and the group after that and the group after them; but the clientele was thinning out as the season waned, so even though the hours had been logged, the feeling of running in a hamster wheel was no longer an issue. People seemed eager to fit in or discover anything they may have missed in the previous five months in northern New Hampshire.
So instead of veering off the road and up familiar sagging steps Sophie and Miles kept their bearing until they walked into the lounge.
The gang was all there, as the saying goes. Miles wasted no time grabbing a pair of glasses and splitting a bottle of Coke between them. A good amount of the space left was then taken up by generous splashes of the whiskey that was kept in an apple juice bottle in the back of the fridge. He handed a drink to Sophie, who wrinkled her nose at the ratio in her glass. She took a long swallow nonetheless after an obligatory clink with Miles. Before long they were playing against one another, partnering with Jabari or Emma at the dart board.
During the course of the game Miles stepped back mentally from his immediate focus at the corkboard. The TV was on, but muted, and neither Miles nor anyone in the room could have said for sure what was on that evening. Instead, the football-sized boom-box that sat on the half-wall that divided the deep halves of the living room and kitchen was trying its damndest to fill the room with Counting Crows or U2 or whatever was on the only station that played enough of what everyone could agree on to keep its coordinates locked into the tuner. The only thing competing with the music was conversation. The people in the two rooms seemed more like the friendly group of wide-eyed newbies they had been in December than the cliquey, burnt-out people they had become. Miles thought that if the last month could end on that kind of note then maybe the drudgery and petty squabbles that had brewed in the middle of the season could be mellowed out in the long run.
“Miles! You’re drifting!” Emma brought Miles back to the task at hand. He threw his three darts and managed to close out 17 with one of them.
Merriment aside, half the group had worked for fourteen hours that day, and after barely an hour a happy exhaustion beat out the revelry and like a murder of crows lighting from a telephone wire staff deserted the lounge for their beds.
“We’ve only got that geometry-building a dome, whatever that thing is, and some group games,” Miles said, trying to make even less out of very little.
“We’ll be done before two, unless they make us stay over for some reason.”
“We’ll catch up on our sleep then.”
“That’s a plan, then.”

Miles awoke before Sophie but after a quick glance at the clock across her shoulder nudged her into consciousness.
“Already?” She asked.
“Just until two.” Sophie nodded in acceptance and followed Miles in their morning rituals. They walked to the dining hall clutching one another for warmth as much as companionship for as long as they could, breaking seal on the old oak doors two minutes before they would have been exactly on time for breakfast.
“Can we not eat scrambled eggs and bacon for a very long time after we get to Chicago?” Sophie mumbled as they walked through the buffet.
“No sausage, either,” Miles chuckled. “Cheer up, Beautiful. Not that much longer to go, now.”
“What are you so chipper for, then?”
“I’m with you. I’m not even trying to be cheesy; you’re just great.”
“Shut up,” Sophie smirked. She elbowed Miles’ ribs discreetly. The move caused bangs that were not quite long enough to always stay put behind Sophie’s ear to swing free. Reflexively, Sophie tried to swish the errant hair back in its place but unfortunately the hand in charge of that task already holding onto a tray of food, which clamored to the floor.
“Bullocks!” Sophie cried, and dropped to her knees. Miles dropped beside her and swept the sullied food back onto her tray. He took the liberty of kissing Sophie’s cheek while they were out of view. Sophie looked at him incredulously for a split second before she burst into laughter.
Miles snickered with Sophie and helped her up. “You go to some great lengths to sneak a kiss, precious girl.” He squeezed her shoulder softly and they went back to the beginning of the line to start over again.
They made it to the staff table with plenty of time to eat and still wearing smiles. Miles mentally stepped back from scene once again. No one else at the table looked to be anywhere near the spirit he and Sophie were in. No one seemed particularly unhappy, excepting Paul, who seemed more hung-over than anything. The lack of feeling is what struck Miles. The people sitting at the table with him, Gerri, Jabari, Emma, and everyone else, would leave New Hampshire with some funny stories, some pictures to go along with the tales, and a new shirt or two, but that was about it. None of them would be able to remember the last names of everyone they were sitting with five years down the road. By that time half of their first names might be difficult.
Miles was glad to be getting something lasting out of his experience in New England. He looked to his surprise lover beside him and smiled again. He hoped to make great things happen; come back to New Hampshire to relive old times, keep in touch with Scott and Kyra and Jabari and Emma, but Miles knew that even if that did not happen he would have something more than pictures and trinkets to take away from Ontanogan.
Before Miles gathered enough wool to knit a sweater he was called to duty. After shuffling his group out the doors Miles would not have been able to go into much detail about the morning’s activities; he went into auto-pilot and stayed there until the exhaust of departing busses revived him better that any smelling salts on the market.
After cleaning cabins and program areas with all the speed apathy could muster everyone working the group signed out at two in the afternoon.
“You see? Just like I promised,” Miles joked on the way back to his cabin.
“Do you want a cookie?”
“I want your cookie,” Miles chided.
“Oh my God, one track mind!”
“Well it has been almost two days.”
“I can’t wait until we’re married and never have to have sex again,” Sophie teased, squeezing Miles’ arm hard.
“I know you can hold out longer than I can, but I don’t think you could hold out that long.”
“You’re right. But that’s because you know it’s not a race.”
“If you don’t break the ribbon first I wouldn’t feel right crossing the finish line. You know that.”
“I know. I love you, Miles.”
“I love you too, Sophie.”
When they reached the cabin their roommates were not there to greet them so they took advantage of the privacy and made good on their kidding.
“If we go to sleep now, we’ll be up all night,” Sophie lamented, even though she was barely awake after their tryst. Miles pulled her closer until she was talking to his collarbone.
“So what do we have to do tomorrow?”
“Nothing, I guess. Will you go to sleep if I do? I don’t want to trap you in bed all afternoon.”
“Sophie, in my mind, I’m stealing time with you from whatever holy prankster is dangling you in front of me. Most of the time I’m too excited to see you curled up against me, peaceful and naked and trusting and happy, to fall asleep. That doesn’t mean I’m not having the time of my life.”
“Well, even though you are an ass, I’m no carrot. Shut up before you make me cry.” Sophie bit Miles’ shoulder gently before kissing his lips.
True to Sophie’s foreshadowing the two woke up at around eight in the evening, mostly because of hunger. “Do you want to get up?” Miles asked. They were both staring at the ceiling; Sophie had spilled back onto Miles in almost the same position she had fallen asleep in. Hunger was half of the reason Miles wanted to get out of bed. The other half was due to the fact that feeling the bottom of Sophie’s breasts brushing against his forearm as she breathed was persuading him to stay in bed for reasons Sophie would probably not be as anxious to pursue at that moment.
“I guess.” Her temptations left his arm and met the colder air of the cabin, which Miles gaped at with all the vigor of a teenager stumbling onto his first Playboy Magazine. Sophie caught him.
“Later. I’m hungry.” Miles saw a smile matching his until Sophie turned away to clothe herself.
“Ok, Frisky. What do you want to do about dinner?”
“We don’t have a damn bit of food in the house, do we?” Miles asked.
“Some tea, some crackers, a couple of other random things,” Sophie mentally ran through the contents of their cupboard as they walked to the lounge.
“But we’re trying to save money, so we shouldn’t go out to eat.”
“But if we go get groceries while we’re hungry then we’ll buy way too much, so we would have to go out to eat anyways.”
“Well, let’s see what’s happening when we get to the kitchen.”
When they got to the kitchen they were greeted by an almost full house. Emma and Jabari were watching a scariest police chase show in the living room, Christopher and Sergio were playing foosball, and Scott was rifling though the contents of his cupboard with Kyra passively looking over his shoulder.
“There they are,” Kyra said. Scott peeked out from behind the door of the cabinetry.
“Hey! What did you guys do, drop a bunch of lueds? You were out cold. And Miles, you have a very pale ass. You need to get some sun, my man.”
“What?” Miles saw Kyra nod in agreement. He heard Jabari and Emma grunt with feigned disgust and genuine laughter. Sophie reddened.
“Don’t worry; I threw a blanket over you. And I only took, like, eight or nine pictures for my pastyass.com site. You’ll get a cut, of course.” Mile flipped Scott a bird and a smile. “What are you guys doing for dinner?”
“Don’t know. We were going to see if we had anything to make a meal out of down here.”
“Do you?”
“No,” Miles said, without making a move to open his cupboard.
“We could go to that fancy pizza place in Concord,” Kyra suggested.
“I guess it’s only fifteen minutes farther than that diner that’s closest to us.”
“Not that place,” Sophie said.
“Sounds like it’s settled to me,” Scott concluded. He asked the rest of the room whether they were interested or not and, surprisingly, everyone was.
Miles drove with Jabari and Emma in his backseat. Scott took the foosball enthusiasts in his Camry.
That evening, much like the work day, was a blur for Miles. They ordered pizzas and pitchers, had fun and meaningless conversation, and smiled a lot. The evening in Concord, fun though it was, reconfirmed his gratefulness to Sophie. Who remembers going out for pizza twenty years after the fact? That restaurant would be worth millions.
Miles said as much to Sophie as they sat on his back porch slowly draining a bottle of wine. “I prefer Old England to New England, if you ask me,” he concluded.
“You’re pissed, but that’s cute.”
“I’m not pissed. Tipsy, definitely, but not pissed.”
“You’ve never even been to England.”
“I don’t think I want to go.” Sophie looked at her fiancée quizzically. “I have this picture built up in my mind, partially based on movies, mostly from knowing you, about what it would be like. It couldn’t possibly live up to expectations. I mean, I’m going, obviously, and I’m sure I’ll have a great time, but I have this romanticized image of London, like a bunch of yous running around sweeping people off their feet-“
“Shut up. And for the record, you almost got your arse kicked right then. But you saved yourself. I suppose I’m a bit tipsy as well.” Sophie clinked her glass to Miles’ and they finished what was left before pouring anew.
“You know another thing I like about you, Sophie?”
“What’s that, Love?” Sophie prepared herself for something either stupid or sappy.
“That I can talk to you about anything. I don’t mean just the deep, heartfelt stuff. I can talk to you about that, but I mean anything. Like what we were just talking about, stuff that pops into my head when I think about you. I can tell you that fluffy, fleeting stuff and the deep stuff and everything else. I feel fine telling you anything. I really like that.”
“Aww, I’m glad you feel that way.”
“That’s another one of those things that keep coming up, you know?” Sophie waited. “Every time some question or long-term thing comes up, like something that would be important especially later on after here... Every time something like that comes up, we’ve already answered it somehow. Right now there aren’t any lingering doubts or anything in my mind about the months and years ahead because they’re always answered somehow before I even have the chance to think about them too much. And it makes me worry less about things that might come up in the future because of how well everything has fallen into place so far.”
“You think about us a lot, don’t you, Miles?”
“Constantly. Sometimes I wish I could just stop for even a day.”
“I don’t want you to worry about us any more.”
“That’s easier said than done, Sophie.”
“I’m not asking you, Miles. I’m telling you not to worry.” Sophie pulled Miles’ eyes to hers with a delicate pair of fingers at the bottom of his chin. “I don’t want you to worry about any of it. I want you to enjoy it, because if you don’t revel in this then I can’t. And that’s no fun for either of us. I already told you that I will be with you forever, and you’ve told me the same. I’m talking Hollywood ending type of stuff if that’s what it takes. Since we’ve got that taken care of, everything else will just fall into place, like you said.”
“If you say so.”
“I do.” Sophie swallowed half her wine with conviction. Miles could see a green fire of determination in her eyes. He drank as deeply.