Tea-Chapter 11

Chapter 11

“Jabari. I need to talk to you, man.”

“What’s up?”

“Sophie thinks I have to work on the farm tomorrow with Scott. I need you to take my shift, at least until lunch.” Miles launched into the Starbucks story, which he had reiterated to Scott the previous night.

“Are you fucking serious?”

“As a judge, man. It all just happened like that. So I need to go into town tomorrow and get this ring. I already talked to the guy and he’s got it all set. As long as it’s what he said, I just need to pick it up. I want to surprise her.”

“Shit, yeah. I can cover for you. That’s the best excuse I’ve ever heard for missing work. Not a problem.”

“Thanks a lot, man. You can keep the hours, or I’ll switch with you later, or whatever.”

“Let’s just say this…Some day, I may call upon you for a favor.” It was the blackest impression of Don Corleone Miles had ever heard.

“Thanks, man.” Miles clapped Jabari on the back. “Not a word, ok? I’m going to give it to her tomorrow night.”

“For sure. Good luck, man. That’s some crazy shit, but if anyone was going to do it, it would be you, you crazy Mongol.” They both laughed.

With his priority of the day accomplished Miles ran back from the lounge to his apartment, where Sophie was showering. He had slipped out and back in before she came out of the bathroom.

It had only been a day since Miles had proposed but she was already looking at him with a different gaze. She showed it to him as she unwrapped the towel from her head.

“Hi. I’ve got to dry my hair, but I just wanted to say hi.” She leaned in to kiss Miles but stopped. “Oh, my goodness. Am I getting clingy? I’m sorry. That was really mushy.”

“That’s ok. We’re both kind of clingy. I love you, so it doesn’t matter.”

“God, you’re the sweetest guy! And I’m sounding even cheesier than ever! Listen to me!” She ran back into the bathroom to dry her hair.

When she came back Miles was under the blankets and waiting for her.

“Are we done being beautiful?” He chided.

“Hush. I’m throwing out all the makeup tomorrow and eating nothing but fish and chips from here on out, because I’m getting married.”

“To who? A Cod fisherman on the wharf?” She slugged him softly.

“Not really. I’ll be as beautiful in fifty years as I am now.”

“I hope your next husband appreciates that. I was planning on being dead at twenty-five.

“Don’t say that!”

“It’s true. That’s what I thought all through high school. If I would have known I’d be alive this long I would have taken better care of myself.”

“Oh, you!”

“Is this really happening Sophie?”

“What do you mean?”

“Does the guy really get the beautiful girl just like in the movies? I thought that was make-believe.”

Sophie pierced his eyes with hers for a moment. “Sometimes I guess it happens. And they live happily ever after.” Miles could not talk anymore because he didn’t know whether he would cry or gush, neither of which an approved course of action in the Men’s Handbook is. He simply curled up with the rest of his life and fell asleep to her.

“Wow. This is…nice. I mean, I’ve never bought one of these before, but the specs are nice and it’s shiny and all. This is a real certificate? Of course it is. You’re a jewelry store, for crying out loud. Sorry, I’m just a little nervous. Yup, there’s the AGA serial number right there. And I can look that up and this exact diamond is on file? Right online, hey? All right. Thanks for helping me out.”

“I guess we’re going to town?” Sophie ventured the next Friday morning. She was standing in front of the bathroom mirror combing her hair. Miles floated up behind her and hugged her.

“I guess.” He reached for her hand as if to slide his fingers between hers. He almost slid the ring on without Sophie noticing.

“Hey-“ She looked down to their hands. “Miles!!!! What the bloody…?” She held he hand up to the mirror, and then in front of her face. “It’s…When…How…” Miles squeezed the questions out of her until she squirmed around to see him. “I can’t believe you. H!-W!-You!-Miles!!!”

“Leave me a few surprises. Do you like it? Round is my favorite cut.”

“It’s huge! I thought you were getting…this…you can’t aff…Oh, Miles!”

“I love you, Sophie.” He also loved his grandparents for buying him a thousand dollar cd twenty years prior.

“I love you, too! Oh, I can’t believe you! I’m mad at you! You shouldn’t have spent…this must be at least a carat!

“One-point one-seven. F-VSI-1. It’s on the certificate.”

“It’s real? I mean, of course it’s real. But this is real?”

“As you and me. It’s yours. As long as you still want to marry me.”

“Of course! Why did you do this when we have to meet in a half and hour? I want to spend forever with you right now!”

“Anticipation is a hell of a catalyst. Let’s go to work.”

“Oh, my God! I can’t tell anyone about this!”

“What are you talking about?”

“Oh, no. I’m wearing this until someone notices it. And I guarantee you, someone will notice this. Oh! Give me a kiss!” Miles obliged her and they walked to the dining hall for the usual staff meeting.

It didn’t take long.

“…There are seventy folks in all-“

“What in the hell is that?” Emma cried. She was sitting beside Sophie with Miles on the right. Cliff, who had been giving the group synopsis, paused at the outburst.

“What are you talking about?” Sophie feigned.

“On your bloody finger! You know damn well what I’m talking about!”

“Oh. It’s a ring.” Emma couldn’t take it any longer. She grabbed Sophie’s hand and examined it.

“That’s a damned diamond! What the hell?”

“Oh, I’m engaged.” No one, including Cliff, cared about the meeting at that point.

“Ta who?” Emma encredulated.

“Miles. He asked me Tuesday.”

“What? How come I didn’t know about this?” Miles saw Jabari smiling. Miles gave him an appreciative nod.

“How did he-It’s huge! Who did you kill to get that thing?” Emma directed the question to Miles. Miles shook his head. “You’ve got a bloody rock on your finger! You come here and in three months you’re already taken!”

Cliff tried to restore order and largely succeeded after a bit of coaxing. He managed to relay the rest of the pertinent information about the group descending upon the camp in a matter of hours and made his leave.

As soon as the meeting was over, Emma, Gerri, and Kyra swooned around Sophie, and she was in her glory. There were fringe congratulations given to Miles but the day was his fiancée’s.

Miles kissed Sophie briefly and made his way out of the room with Scott and Jabari to open the cabins.

“That was some spectacle. I do love how you always seem to get me into trouble,” Scott said as they walked to the first patch of buildings.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Miles asked.

“As soon as Kyra gets a look at that ring that’s all that will be on her mind. You guys have been together a few months. She and I have been together for two years. I’m fucked. Or, rather, done being fucked.”

“Well then, marry her. We’ll have a group wedding right here. The kitchen can cater. We can get honeymoon cabins.”

“Dear God, no. That would be the most horrible thing I could imagine. What will we give the guests as reception choices? Corn dogs or chicken strips?”

“With a gallon of Bug Juice on every table.”

“I’ll throw the bachelor party. We’ll start out with some icebreakers and then move on to some low-ropes initiatives…” Jabari chimed in.

“Christ in a cradle, no more. I don’t want to think about it.” Scott shook the thoughts from his head.

They began unlocking and airing out cabins. It was a relatively uninvolved job and before too long they were finished. Miles wandered back to his cabin. The day was pushing five in the evening but Miles’ only duty that night was the evening snack at seven with Gerri.

“Hi.” Miles looked up from his shoes to see Sophie sitting on the end of his bed. A smile he could not control alighted on his face.

“Hey. Are you done?”

“I’m in the office in an hour. I figured you would come back here before snack.”

“Are you planning on going to dinner?” She nodded. “Good, because I’m really hungry.”

“Come here.” Miles did. When he reached Sophie she simply held him without moving for a good minute. “Promise me you’ll help me let this ride never end,” she whispered.

“What do you mean, Love?”

“The entire time I’ve known you, and I know it hasn’t been long even though it seems like it, I’ve been…high. Every time I’m with you, or even just think about you, I get a flutter. Not a nervous flutter, more of a flutter of realization that this is the greatest adventure I’ve ever had. That’s one of the greatest things about us, Miles. I feel it now even though we’ve slept together for months and know almost everything about one another. I still feel that flutter of thrill. And I want to keep it. I’ve become accustomed to it.”

“I promise you that I will do everything I can.”

“Fair enough. It’s been working so far. I love you, Miles.”

“I love you, too, Sophie.” Miles smiled. Sophie kissed what she could easily reach, which happened to be the middle of Miles’ shoulder, and they stood up to go to dinner. Even after standing she could not resist putting her arms around Miles’ neck. They danced slowly with no music save whatever soundtrack was in their heads.

They entered the dining hall to hoots and claps. Even the kitchen staff was standing and smiling in the doorways leading to the stoves and food paraphernalia. Everyone on staff was sitting at the table. Miles bowed politely as Sophie blushed. After going through the buffet they found the spaces that had been saved for them.

“Quite a reception, I must say,” Sophie finally recognized. She was lucky she ate right-handed or she may have starved for everyone wanting to see her ring. Once everyone who had heard the news in the interim since the meeting had congratulated the couple they finished their meals in relative peace. Sophie had just enough time to trot down to the office to check in the guests as they arrived.

Miles lagged around the dining room chatting with everyone remaining until they dissipated and he was left to bake corn dogs with Gerri.

“So?!” Gerri yelped.

“So, What?” Miles grinned.

“How did this all happen?” Miles smiled and told her the story.

“Oh! That’s so sweet and random. I’m so glad you didn’t cliché it up at a restaurant with champagne and everything.”

“Yeah,” Miles muttered. “That seems to be the consensus.” They set about to making the evening snack.

“That’s a big ring.” Gerri said.

“Eh, it’s middle of the road. You should have seen some of the boulders in that jewelry shop. Sophie’s ring would look like a shaving compared to them.”

“Yeah, well, you could also buy a new car for the price of some of those things. You did good, Miles. She’s floating on air right now. That’s what counts.”

“Yeah, you’re right. It’s not really the ring, though. That’s a part of it, the tangible part, but she was really worried about how we would end up after all this. To tell you the truth, I was wondering myself. But I believe we have it all settled now.”

“Are you going to move back to Chicago?”

“Yeah, for a couple of years, anyways. That’s where grad school is. After that, I don’t really care. Sophie can pick.”

“What is she going to do while you’re in school?”

Miles had thought about that situation in passing, but had never really chewed on it. “I don’t know.” The thought of Sophie being a waitress or a drugstore cashier did not sit well with him. “I always thought that I would wait until I was settled in something to get married, so that neither of us would be struggling to make ends meet. But this just kind of happened.”

“That’s how it always goes. Does either of your parents know anything about this yet?”

“No. Well, both sets know that we’re dating, but nothing other than that. I haven’t really thought about how to tell them the news. It’s going to sound insane to them. It does to me, sometimes, and I’m the perpetrator.”

“Do you think they would be happy or not?”

“Well, it’s hard to say, with my parents, anyways. They want me to be happy, of course, but their idea of happiness is success. Anything that might get in the way of that could be looked at with disfavor, really. It might take a delicate argument to get them on my side.”

“Do you know much about Sophie’s parents?”

“Not really. Dad’s a banker, mom stays at home. I think they have some money, but nothing crazy. Pretty equivalent to my family, I guess. I’ve never spoken to either of them.”

“That will be interesting.”

“Yes, I suppose it will.” The prospect gave Miles even more to think about.

When the new arrivals came to the dining hall Miles and Gerri were ready for them with questionable snacks. The kids gobbled the stick food up because that’s what kids do. The parents ate with nostalgic grins. After everyone had gone through the line the staffers closed shop and walked home.

Miles found it amusing that Scott and Kyra were not in the cabin when he returned. He was also thankful. Sophie, as always, was waiting for him with only candles lighting the way to his bed.

“What’s all this, then?”

“Really, Miles, you have many talents, but impersonating foreigners is not one of them.” Miles laughed and slid under the covers beside her.

“How long have you been sitting here?”

“Only fifteen minutes or so. There were some late arrivals, as always.”

“It’s barely nine. Do you want to turn out the lights or something else?”

“I’m not really tired. We slept until almost ten this morning.”

“Me neither. You know, I was talking with Gerri tonight and she brought up a good point. We should probably tell our parents about this.”

“You haven’t told them about me yet!!??” Sophie joked.

“This.” Miles tugged on her newly acquired ring.

“Yeah. How are you going to go about it?”

“I don’t know. I was hoping you would have a solution.”

“How could I have a solution? You’ve only just told me now that we have to tell our parents.” Sophie tried to tickle Miles under the sheets but that had never worked.

“Thousands of starving comedians out there and you’re trying to be funny.”

“You like it,” Sophie grinned devilishly. Miles was powerless against that grin. Very soon all thoughts of the Future were abandoned in favor of wants of the flesh.

“I’m still not tired,” Sophie yawned forty minutes later.

“Of course you’re not. That just revves you up. I think you get a different chemical going than I do after sex.”

“Well, we’ll have to put a stop to all the sex, then. It’s clearly throwing us out of balance.”

“Let’s not do anything crazy before we look at all the options. What if you just take care of me? Then we’ll both be tired at the same time.”

“Yeah, that sounds like a great plan, Miles. Let’s save that for thirty years down the road, shall we?”

“Hey, just throwing out ideas.” They shared a laugh and eventually found sleep.

Miles was prepping the dining hall for breakfast the next morning. It was a duty that required him reporting to the post fifteen minutes earlier than when the rest of the staff was supposed to be there for breakfast so he didn’t feel too jilted. At least he wasn’t assigned to the seven a.m. hike, as Gerri had been that morning.

All Miles had to do was wheel out carts laden with water pitchers, turn on the dishwasher, and make sure nothing had been displaced during the night. He woke himself up by double-fisting tea and orange juice so that in comparison to the rest of the staff, save Gerri, he looked rested and ready to work.

Sophie squeezed his hand discreetly before she sat beside him to wait out the usual morning announcements with the rest of the staff. He had tried to convince her to take her ring off when she had to work, but his pleas had failed. He had reasoned to himself that diamond was the hardest mineral on the Earth and exposing it to leathercraft and archery would have no effect, but there was still a bit of wariness as he watched what could have been a decent used car twinkling on her finger. She was proud of it, and proud of the person that had given it to her. Miles couldn’t fault her reasons for keeping it close.

Symbolism is an odd thing. The premise of symbolism is that the actual objects mean nothing in and of themselves. One would think that if that fact were universally true of symbols, logic would have prevailed long ago and symbolism gone the way of magic and acid-washed jeans.

Symbolism stood boldly in the face of reason in the twentieth century, however, and had grown stronger for its struggles. Miles saw the power it held in Sophie’s eyes and every time he looked at the rounded mineral riding an elemental steed on Sophie’s finger. They were things that someone, a French king, if Miles was not mistaken, had dug from the earth centuries before and pronounced as commitment incarnate.

Miles shrugged his philosophical monkey from his back and reminded himself that if an equally ridiculous medium such as beeswax on a button had been chosen to convey eternal devotion to a loved one, Sophie would have been just as happy with it. Symbolism, it seems, is a drug for the ignorant.

Apparently Miles had not quite shaken his cynicism. Damn that burst of vitamin C that had given him the energy to actually think that morning! He gathered his breakfast when it was the staff’s turn at the buffet and returned to his theatre with a full plate.

What else would he have spent the money on anyways? Repaying his student loans, which had allowed him to procure his diploma? That piece of paper was nothing more than a symbol of his knowledge. Perhaps a Hawaiian vacation? That would be nothing more than a symbol of prestige. At least he had given happiness to someone else (a symbol of selflessness, ability to provide, affluence…take your pick!)

This is what happened when Miles read Tom Robbins. Even the engaged get the blues. He resigned himself to occasional analysis and squeezed Sophie’s thigh gently. She looked up at him, wondering if he wanted something. Miles silently told her he loved her and took her hand in his. She shook her head.

“Every time we’re together, all I want to do is run away with you Forever,” Sophie sighed. “You’re such a bad influence on my work ethic.”

“Soon enough, soon enough.” In truth, that time was quickly approaching. It was already the eighth of April, leaving barely two months until their contractual obligation ended on the fourteenth of June. Sophie nodded, as if reading her mind.

“You know, we should really make plans to go to England. School doesn’t start until August, and I’ve never been there.”

“Oh, my God. Miles, my visa is up in five months. We have to get…”

“I know. Five months. We should figure something out. You should call your parents soon and let then know. Mine are in Chicago, so I’ve got it easy.”

“I know, but I’m kind of scared. What are they going to think, Miles?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know what my parents will think. The bottom line is that it really doesn’t matter because we’re both adults. Although it would be nice to have blessings all around, I suppose. At any rate, we’ll have to talk about it tonight, because we’ve got to move.” Sophie nodded, though looking a tinge worried.

“Relax. I’m here for you.” Miles squeezed Sophie around the shoulder reassuringly. “It’ll all work out.” They parted after a long gaze to their morning stations.

Miles ended his jaunt at archery/bb’s, which was where he always seemed to end up. It was better than leather first thing in the morning.

Miles trudged through the motions of the station. Working family camps had become almost a meditative activity for Miles by that point. He rose above his actions and performed them in a state of semi-consciousness that allowed him to ignore the trappings of time. That was the romanticized take on his withdrawal, anyways.

Time, as it always did, dominoed rhythmically to lunch. Miles knew that it was almost six p.m. in London. A call to the soon-to-be in-laws would not be happening that day or the next, but he hoped Sophie would see to it on their first day off. There was so much to be done in the short amount of time that Sophie’s current means of legal domicile allowed. Miles told himself to have a long discussion of everything pertinent to their life together as soon as possible.

It wasn’t to happen that night. He and Sophie were both working stations until nine and by the time they met up they were done-in enough to agree to have their nuptial discussion on Sunday afternoon after the campers had gone.

“How are you doing, hon? Had enough excitement for one day?”

“Mmhh Hhmm.” Miles’ eyes had adjusted enough to the cabins’ darkness to where he could see that Sophie’s eyes were closed. Even without seeing her face, her mumble would have given her away. With a whispered exchange of affections they fell asleep.