Tea - Chapter 18

Chapter 18

The hangover Miles awoke with was nothing epic, though it was too much to ignore. He succeeded in removing himself from the bed without waking Sophie to fill a mug with water and immediately drain it several times before bothering to find a larger vessel to share with Sophie when she woke up.

A headache kept Miles awake and thinking through all the ways he may have offended Sophie the night before. After a half hour of mulling he could remember nothing specific that could have caused her reaction, which worried him even further. Miles shrugged to himself, quite certain that Sophie would detail any grievances soon enough.

When she woke up Miles offered her the glass of water. She took it and drank until it was nearly gone. Miles was certainly not looking forward to whatever Sophie had to say because his head was still throbbing, but the look in her eyes when she finally turned them toward him was not puppy love.

“Do you even realize what you do when you’re like that?” Miles did not respond because he barely understood the question Sophie had asked. “You treat me like shit. You make fun of me; you make me feel like a burden to your good times. You want to fucking chase the moon all night, go ahead, but don’t blame me for not feeling the same way. But I can’t do this over and over again. After all I’ve given you to be here to have you do that do me? What the fuck, Miles?”

“Over and over? I’ve been drunk a grand total of three times since I’ve been here. I’m twenty-fucking-three, not sixty-three.”

“So that’s your excuse for treating me like a damned Uni fling? You can’t decide to cop out with that now when you’ve decided to marry me already, which by the way, will last until you’re sixty-three. Or haven’t you even thought that far ahead?”

“Sophie…”

“Am I supposed to wait for you to outgrow this? We’re making decisions that will affect the rest of our lives, Miles. We’re in the real world whether you like it or not. Having good times is not the issue. You treating me like shit when you’re pissed is. Miles, you’re so sweet and perfect most of the time. But these times when you go football hooligan on me are unbearable. I’m not being overdramatic, either. I won’t stand for it.” Miles still could not speak. “I’m not saying don’t go out and have fun, but I won’t be a part of it. I can’t be around you when you’re like that. I don’t know what makes you act the way you do…Do you feel like I’m holding you back from something?”

“No!” Miles finally found his voice, and he had used the time to think. “No, it’s nothing you’ve done. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I just…I just want to still be what I was, I guess. I love you so much and I hate that I hurt you and I want to be with you for forever but I’m not comfortable with the feeling. What I know is being single and doing whatever I want. This feeling with you…it’s an uncomfortable feeling. I like it most of the time, but it scares me. Every once in a while I have to go back to being me by myself, with no ‘you’ because I feel completely at ease that way. There are no complications. If I overdo it it’s because I know that I only have a rare shot at completely letting go of the ‘us’ feeling and reveling in the ‘me’ feeling for a while. But I shouldn’t make you feel like you’ve done something wrong. You’re completely right. I would hate it if you made me feel bad. But you would never do that. I’m sorry. I don’t know what else to say.”

“That’s a good start. Maybe we just need to have some alone time now and again. But, what makes you feel uncomfortable about us?”

“I don’t know. I’ve made a lot of dumb decisions in my life, but they didn’t hurt anyone but me. Now, everything I do affects the both of us. If I don’t make the right decision, we both pay for it. Sometimes I like to make dumb decisions just for me. To get it out of my system I guess. I like to do things that are just for me because I don’t feel that pressure of you being involved.”

“That makes sense, I think.”

“Don’t get me wrong, most of the time, well, mostly all the time, I love being with you. I wouldn’t have asked you to marry me if I didn’t love being with you, but now that we’ve gotten over the new-lust stuff, I start to remember a little bit the things I used to do before. And they’re pretty much the same things I do with you, but different. I don’t know. This drinking thing…I would get drunk when I was in a rebellious, ‘fuck everything’ mood. Not angry, but that mood where there’s no tomorrow, live for one night of debauchery and memories with friends, hangover be damned. I guess I feel that more and more because every single day we’re thinking about tomorrow. Before you I never really had a rhyme or reason for the feeling because I didn’t have the opposite side of the coin. I was rebelling against eight o’clock classes and never getting past a double-digit checking account balance. This…this is actually important and it scares me. I don’t know if I can do it.”

“Neither do I, Miles. But we’re supposed to lean on each other for that, not booze.”

“I’m not supposed to lean on anyone, though, Sophie. I’m supposed to figure all this out for us.”

“Oh Miles, come on now. This isn’t the nineteen-fifties. I’m just as much a part of this as you are.”

“I guess. I don’t know. I’m just sorry, Sophie.”

“I know. Just, tell me about things like this from now on before I start thinking the worst of you again. Not that you’re completely in my good graces, yet.”

“I’ll try. I’m not used to it, so I might screw up sometimes, but I’ll try, Sophie.”

“I know.” Sophie hugged Miles’ arm and pressed her lips to his neck. “Meeting adjourned?”

“I second.” Miles kissed the head below his lips. “You know, not to make light of all of this, but we were the first people to leave and we were both…well, you were tipsy, I was just plain drunk. I wonder how long they stayed out there until. I’m betting a few people are in far worse shape than I am right now.”

“Shall we go see?” Miles agreed to Sophie’s proposal and after getting decent they unknowingly made their two-hundredth trip to the staff lounge at the end of the road.

Even though it was almost midway through the day the pair met no one in the lounge. They saw evidence of and after-party in the place and out of ennui as much as graciousness gathered cups and bottles and other party favors in a garbage bag. After the impromptu housekeeping Sophie rummaged through their cupboard which was being purposefully depleted.

“We still have that instant oatmeal,” Sophie said, while absently sliding boxes and cans around.

“That really gross dollar box? Donate that to the common shelf. Someone will eat it.”

“We’re not really going to touch it again, I guess,” Sophie agreed and tossed the breakfast in question to Miles. He stuffed the box onto the shelf that had started out as holding common food for everyone. Over the months the common shelf had become a graveyard more than anything else. Bags of solidified sugar, cheap spices, unmarked bags of noodles, and strange powdered beverage packets made up the majority of the inhabitants on the shelf. Miles did not look back after leaving the tasteless maple and brown sugar pouches to fend for themselves. He had a feeling that if he and Sophie were to visit the camp out of nostalgia in ten or so years, that box would still be on the shelf, only a serving or two shy of what Miles had left in it.

Eventually Sophie came to the conclusion that there was nothing in their cupboard that could combine to make any kind of meal. A few more items were sent to Food Row, leaving their claimed space nearly barren.

“I guess that settles that then. Where would you like to go for lunch?”

“Either Mexican or an omelet.”

“That was quick. And a very strange set of options.”

“Have I ever told you how sexy your accent is?” Miles asked the question in the same tone he had used to put in his lunch requests but it did not keep Sophie from snickering.

“Yes, especially when we shag.”

“Ooohh, that’s the best.”

“Piss off,” Sophie laughed, while trying to sound infuriated. The action made Miles laugh back at her. They met in the middle of the room and buried themselves in one another’s necks until their giggles subsided.

“I love you, Sophie. I’m going to do everything I can to keep things like this. You’re amazing.”

“Oh, Miles, hush. I know. I love you, too. Let’s get out of here.”

“As long as you know.”

“I do. But it’s nice to hear you say it now and again as well.”

“Good. Let’s get out of here.”

“I just said that.”

“My mom is getting ridiculous with this whole wedding thing,” Miles gasped after he hung up with the Chicago end of the nuptial planning.

“Just stepping stones, darling.” Sophie stepped into Miles’ arms and stood with her man in the lounge’s kitchen. “Pretty soon all of this will be behind us and we’ll be living perfectly normal lives.”

“I don’t think you and I will ever have a normal life, Sophie. I mean that in a good way.” They pressed their lips together in one of the hundred different ways they had kissed a thousand times before.

“I figured as much. We’re far too interesting, aren’t we?”

“What do you want to do now?”

“We’re running out of options, aren’t we?” They had just come back from lunching at their Starbucks; nostalgic for the last ten years before the last ten years were done.

“Well, tomorrow and Wednesday we have that school group coming in for an overnight, so anything you want to get done, we had better do it,” Miles finally said.

“God, there’s so much going on right now that I hardly remember we’re still working here.”

“Not getting any hours makes you forgetful, too.” Miles stated. Sophie rolled her eyes in time with Miles’ own. Their finances, which they had long ago pooled without any formal ceremony, were showing the effects of the few short days they worked during the final weeks they had in their contracts. Even a silver lining such as having more time to spend together did not sparkle as brightly as it once had once the realization of Forever had set into their minds.

The time was close to one in the afternoon. One in the afternoon on the last day off before a work week is a tricky time. On one hand, there is an entire afternoon to be enjoyed if one is looking for that sort of thing. Looming on the horizon, however, are the groans of early mornings and the short attention spans of children. The day can go either way depending on whether pessimism or optimism wins the arm wrestle of the psyche. Love has a heavy hand.

Miles and Sophie decided to spend their last afternoon off in the lounge. If someone happened to wander in and something got started, then so be it. They stretched out against one another on the cleanest couch and made small talk during Home and Garden Television commercial breaks. From time to time someone would breach the hull, adding two shiny new cents, but for most of the afternoon the lounge was even less important than a weigh station.

The couch potatoes could have been in California, for all they cared. The place they found in one another’s company turned a blind eye to even the bleakest of New England weather. That place was what gave Sophie the confidence she needed to live on the other side of her ocean with a man she had met three swift months ago. That place was what gave Miles the courage to grow up and move ahead even though he did not know what ahead had in store for him.

They regarded the television as though it were a comedian that had not yet said anything funny while the same thoughts ran through their heads, mostly at different times, every once in a while crashing into one another in word, thought, and deed.

Tea - Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Saturday was an odd day. Miles and Sophie had no more than poured the milk onto their cereal than Cliff was at the door.

“The Ellington group is bigger than they told us. Can anyone work today and maybe tomorrow?” Since neither Miles nor Sophie had anything special planned, and since Cliff was staring directly at them, they had agreed. The hours might even push them into overtime pay, which had only happened once or twice before.

Saturday was also the day three new summer staff people showed up. Rocky and John showed up, as was expected, as well as Alicia. The latter newcomer had been hired to run the trading post during summer camp. Miles felt sorry for Alicia even before he had made her acquaintance because Alicia was supposed to set the camp store books straight in the weeks before summer camp started. No one on staff row had paid for anything they had taken from the trading post in the past five months.

Miles sighed with the realization that the carefree days of the mildest seasons were coming to an end as he hoofed to the far side of camp to meet a school group he had not prepared for.

He had, however, been trained in all the outdoor education areas. Cliff handed him a schedule for the day and Miles was glad that he could handle all the activities without feeling at much of a loss.

On the other side of that coin, the day was not much of a challenge. Miles worked the daytime activities but funds being as limited as they were he was relived by ringmaster Cliff before dinner. Miles found Sophie on the walk back up to staff lodge and took the liberty of holding her hand.

“I would scold you but I don’t even care anymore. Let’s just get under the covers before you make too much of a scene.”

“How did your day go?”

Sophie had related her very similar-sounding day to Miles by the time they arrived at his cabin.

“So, do you think Cliff will get us tomorrow?” Miles asked.

“Maybe. I kind of hope he does and hope he doesn’t. Today pushed us into overtime, which is nice, but I like my time off with you.”

“Here I was looking for a different perspective and I got a mirror image of my own.” Miles sarcastically rolled his eyes.

“Well; that’s why I find myself stuck with you despite my best attempts.” Miles matched her snooty Brit impression with a jutting lower lip. “Hey,” she continued, “It’s early and we just made time and a half. Let’s go blow fifteen quid and eat something nice.”

“You’re so damn English,” Miles sighed.

“Get used to it.”

Miles and Sophie had forgotten about the new arrivals to camp until they walked up to the lounge later that evening full of Panara. There were three new faces in the crowd and a bunch of familiar ones that were uncomfortably sober. Miles was reminded within a greeting of who the newcomers were and introduced himself. Sophie followed suit.

Miles saw the look in the eyes of both Jabari and Paul. Miles was simply having too good a time to be apprehensive. Besides, what were they going to do? Fire him? He opened the fridge and grabbed two semi-secreted Harps and handed one to Sophie. She tilted her head and smiled before drinking.

Jabari shrugged. They had become so used to drinking together in the open but clandestinely towards the outside world that they were unsure about sharing their secret. Miles’ move seemed to have broken the ice. After John saw Jabari pour what was obviously not apple juice into two cups of Coke he broke ice of his own and found himself with a drink. Miles offered the other two a beer, which Rocky accepted.

“I wouldn’t do this normally, but there are no kids, right?” He asked, looking for affirmation. Miles nodded and clinked Rocky’s bottle with his. Rocky was a refreshing character to Miles. He reminded Miles of himself five months prior. It also made Miles smile to realize how far he had come, along with the rest of his co-workers. He squeezed Sophie around the waist, which led to a happy explanation to Rocky and Alicia as to their relationship.

“As far as those two are concerned,” Miles told Sophie after the two newcomers had wandered off, “We have always been together and will always be together. That’s all they know either of us as; a couple”

“Five months ago that would have scared me bloody senseless. But I guess now that our future’s set, our pasts will become more and more the same.”

“That’s nice, Sophie.”

“Yeah, well, it’s the beer talking. You know I hate that mushy rubbish.”

“I’ll take it where I can get it.”

They decided that Cliff would not call on them tomorrow and decided to stay up late socializing in the lounge. About the time the contents of their six-pack were drained they well.

“The new people seem really nice,” Sophie commented offhand as she and Miles ate bowls of Special K uninterrupted.

“Yeah, I didn’t really get a chance to talk to that girl, but Rocky and John seem all right.”

“I have a feeling that John and Paul will get on well.”

“Meaning, you don’t like John.”

“Too early to tell, but it could go that way. Maybe he was just excited to be here, but he seemed like a partier.”

“We were all partiers when we first got here too. Probably for the same reasons.”

“Speak for yourself, Iggy Pop.”

“As I recall, it was you who seduced me in a club and had your way with me in the hotel room.”

“In your wildest dreams, that’s how it went!” Sophie cried. “You’re really a bloody storyteller, you know that?” Miles let it go with a smile, happy for the memory. They finished their breakfast in silence save grunts of stifled laughter.

“Well, what are we going to do today?”

“Did your Mum call at all?”

“No, but I imagine she will soon.”

“Well, we’re sort of stuck as far as that goes.”

“Nobody’s down here yet, let’s find something on T.V. and see where that takes us, shall we?” Sophie shrugged as confirmation. As soon as they sat on the couch Sophie’s words at the breakfast table proved to be foreshadowing. Miles answered the phone and heard his mother on the other end.

“Yeah, hello. We were just talking about you.” Miles listened as attentively as possible with Sophie pawing at him for information. Once Miles’ mother had given him the pertinent information he hung up the phone and turned to his flustered fiancée.

“Well, what did she say?”

“She got a hall for the reception for two hundred dollars. It’s close to their house. She’s going to start to look into the Reverend part. No word on the venue for the ceremony.”

“Well, that’s a start, then, eh?” Miles nodded.

Nothing in the way of planning as far as the bonfire was concerned happened until the afternoon hours prior to the actual event. It started when Emma told everyone that she had spotted a brand-new quiver of cheap Tikki torches outside of Cliff’s office. It was decided immediately that the torches needed to be tested for quality and safety and were toted up the hill behind the staff lounge and wiggled into the compacted ground encircling the fire ring. After that task had been accomplished everyone was in a festive mood. It was barely four in the afternoon at that time and although it was too early to start drinking for everyone it was not too early to drive into town and purchase needed supplies.

“Oh, we need to get Jiffy Pop!” Gerri cooed from the backseat of Jeff’s car. She was a passenger along with Miles, Emma, and Jabari.

“I don’t know if we’re going to find Jiffy Pop at the liquor store,” Jeff replied.

“I know, but the grocery store is in the same shopping center.”

“Well then we may as well get marshmallows or something,” Emma chimed in.

“We can get S’mores stuff at camp. We have tons of supplies in the office closet,” Miles said.

No one really cared what they were buying at the store or borrowing from the camp. It had been so long since they had all gotten together socially that they were more excited about the events to come than the preparations.

The car parked in the lot of the shopping center it had graced dozens of times prior ad its occupants bubbled out. Jabari and Emma hooked their arms together at the elbows and set out ahead of the pack towards the liquor store. The rest of the clowns followed closely behind.

Jabari was already cradling his Jack Daniel’s and Emma was perusing expensive vodkas when Miles came upon the scene. He and Jeff mall-walked to the back of the store where the beer was kept behind cold glass.

“What do you think of this Flying Dog beer?” Jeff asked Miles.

“The pale ale is good. That’s all I’ve ever had.” Jeff nodded and picked out a twelve-pack of the stuff. Miles labored a bit longer and decided on Copper Creek’s golden ale. They also swooped up four twenty-twos of the double dater’s consensual favorite ale, Magic Hat’s #9.

“Just to get the party started,” Jeff grinned.

The party started as soon as the quartet came back to staff row. Jeff, Kyra, Miles and Sophie sequestered themselves in the boys’ cabin and put on Tom Petty’s greatest hits. The oversized bottles of Magic Hat were breached and the contents sampled mightily by all four. There was a veil of conclusion draped over the room but no one wanted to admit it was obscuring conversation. They talked about the great choice in beer and the perfect timing of the virgin Tikki torches.

“So, seriously,” Scott braked, “What’s going on with you two?”

“Um, so far, so good,” Miles answered, glancing at Sophie for affirmation. “We’re just waiting for the paperwork to come through now. It shouldn’t be a problem. We’re going to have the wedding in Chicago. We would love it if you came; you’d get the best seats in the house. But, whatever.”

“Oh, we would definitely go. I’ve never been to Chicago,” Jeff answered. “Just give us a heads up. It would be cool.”

Miles nodded but Sophie gushed. “Oh, that would be fun! Emma’s my maid of honor, even though it’s going to be small, so it would be great to have more people from here come!” Scott nodded in re-affirmation.

“Enough this heavy stuff!” Miles joked. “Let’s drink these and get up to that fire. They’re going to think we’re all in bed already or something.” Scott showed his agreeance by downing half of what he had left in one fascinatingly long gulp.

They quickly finished their first bottles and started ambling up the hill behind the kitchen with more in tow. The fire was almost visible from the road even at that early hour. The four made it to empty stumps around the ring of stone slabs just as it was getting too dark to distinguish the trees from the horizon.

Miles set a six-pack between his ankles and slid two bottles from their cardboard sheath. He passed one along to Sophie, who nodded approvingly after a sip. They were soon absorbed in a story Jabari was telling about a trio of hung-over fathers he remembered from months past.

It wasn’t long before Jabari passed Miles a plastic bottle of Jim Beam. Miles drank a healthy plug without thinking about it and passed it back to its owner. As he lowered his arm back to his side he saw a look of sad disapproval in Sophie’s eyes. Miles didn’t know what to say so he said nothing. There was a pregnant pause between them that no one else was aware of.

“Don’t go crazy tonight,” Sophie finally said so only Miles could here. He nodded without meeting her eyes until she slid her hand over his. When he did look at Sophie’s face he saw a tiredness there that he had not noticed before. Miles wondered if it had always been there or had come upon her in a rush.

“Will you two quit it? Not everything is a romantic getaway,” Emma chided from across the fire. The romantics chuckled and turned towards their friends.

Miles saw the smiling faces of the people he had lived and worked with for nearly six months and counted the adventure as a success, even after removing Sophie from the equation. Jabari handed Miles the bottle again and Miles took another hearty swig with a silent salutation to his coworkers. Sophie’s eyes were elsewhere for his whiskey reprise.

The second bullet hit Miles’ head almost as quickly as he had put it in himself. He nodded with a smile and rubbed patted Sophie’s thigh. Sophie gave him a quizzical look. Miles gave her a quizzical kiss.

“Are you pissed?”

“I may be getting there.”

“Well, take it easy.”

“Come on, it’s a party. These people are our friends. We’ve lived with them for six months. We’re about to shoot a flaming arrow into this life we’re sending out to sea so we may as well be shnockered while we do it, don’t you agree?”

“I don’t understand what you just said, but I don’t want to have to deal with you pissed.”

“So don’t deal with me. Forget I’m your boyfriend for a second and let’s all be a bunch of friends sending each other off and laugh and have fun and not think about anything for a night. That’s the point.”

“Forget you’re my fiancée? What the hell is that supposed to mean? Forget I’m stranded halfway across the world for you? You want me to forget that?”

“Yes! I want you to remember the reason we got together in the first place, when it was fun all the time and we didn’t have to worry about a damn thing. Tomorrow we can go back to stressing about the future, but tonight let’s just have fun. Everyone else here is.”

“Everyone else is not watching the person they want to spend the rest of their life with making an arse of himself every time there’s an excuse to do so!”

“Don’t you think you’re being a bit overdramatic? And can we have this argument at some other time? You’ll just accuse me of being drunk if I say anything now anyways. Which I’m not, but I was hoping to have one last shot at ambrosia while I was with all these guys.”

“Of course we can have it some other time. I’m sure it will come up again and again.”

“Bullocks.” Miles finished his beer and uncapped another. “I just wanted us to lose ourselves in something for a night. I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time because I know it won’t come up again. But I wanted you do be with me. Forget you’re worried about us for a second and make some memories.”

Sophie sighed a long sigh. “I’m not going to beat you, so I may as well join you.” She took Miles’ beer and drank half of it. Miles uncapped a new bottle for himself. He clinked his bottle against Sophie’s and followed suit. The torches seemed to brighten on the outside of the circle as the alcohol did its job. The new guys melded into the crowd seamlessly which was good to see, especially in the case of John, who had never worked at Ontanogan. Miles had decided to mingle after the heated discussion with Sophie and joined Jabari and John in another toast from the rapidly disappearing contents of Jabari’s bottle. Emma joined the fray and they decided to have another with the newcomer.

The empty bottle was given a proper burial in Miles’ backpack by pissed pallbearers and the party continued with Whiskey’s scrawny little brother Beer. Miles returned to the log where he had sat with Sophie. She was not where he had left her but Miles found two bottles holding down the fort of the six-pack he had clambered up the trail with. He scanned the scant crowd for a nervous moment; afraid that she had left to go frustrated to bed but after a moment he saw her at the far side of the fire talking to Gerri. Miles debated joining Sophie but decided against it. He found Scott instead, also sans girlfriend, and stood over the fire kicking charred into the heart of the flames for a few minutes.

“This is it, man,” Miles finally said.

“Yeah. I’d tell you to keep in touch and all that, but you know how it goes. We’ll come to the wedding but, really, that’s it. Send me a Christmas card of the kids, hey?”

“You’ll be on the list. I wish I could take some of you guys with us, you know, and just transplant this to another place. It’s been fun, you know that?”

“I’ve had a damn good time myself. I’ve done this a lot by now and some places just never click. I don’t remember half the names of the roommates I’ve had over the years, but for some reason the bunch of us ended up relating. I’m not even saying I’m thrilled with everyone we’ve got, but I’ll remember people here a lot longer than people from other places.”

“You’re probably right.” Miles and Scott stared at the flames and at the other faces around them lit by the glow of the fire for a moment.

“Well, I’m going to find Kyra.” Miles nodded and looked without thinking about it for Sophie. He saw her sitting on the log they had first come upon and joined her.

“Hi.”

“Hey you.”

Miles let his arms be wrapped up by both of Sophie’s. “How are you?”

“Good. Kind of tired.”

“You want to get out of here? Scott just left with Kyra, so we might not be able to get in right away.”

“Whatever. If you want to stay, you can. I’m going.”

“Hey, now. If you want to leave, we can leave.”

“You can do whatever you want. You’re having the time of your life.”

“What’s this about?”

“Miles, you can’t even sit still right now. I’m holding you up to keep you from falling off this log.” Miles took stock of his situation and realized that Sophie was right.

“All right, let’s go back.” As soon as Miles stood up and the head-rush passed he heard Jabari calling his name. He led Sophie over in the direction of the voices to say goodbye to everyone.

“You guys leaving already?” Jabari bawled.

“’Fraid so,” Miles answered. “We’re tired.” He rolled his eyes for extra sarcasm. Jabari and Christopher nodded with equal derision. “So we’re going to go to bed. See you tomorrow.”

“Bright and early.”

“Something like that.” Miles turned to go with Sophie. When they finally made it to Miles’ cabin Sophie followed him into bed, but even through a Beamish haze Miles could feel Sophie’s stiffness as he found his regular spot against her before he passed out.

Tea - Chapter 16

Chapter 16

“Sophie. It came.”

“Oh my God. Open it. Wait!” Sophie kissed him the way a damsel would kiss a knight before he set off to slay a dragon. Miles ripped open the manila envelope sent from the state of New Hampshire that would declare their future. After far too many words Miles found the meat of the letter.

“Your application for an I-129-F form has been approved.” Miles was going to read the sentence again to be sure but Sophie crushed his lips with hers before they had their second chance.

“We did it! I told you we would!” Sophie kissed her official fiancée again and again.

“I should have never doubted you. Shall we get out of here to celebrate?”

“Of course!” Before Miles could make a move Sophie jumped into his arms and began kissing him again. Miles was amazed by Sophie, to take the cliché out of a word. They were comfortable enough with one another that Sophie had, on numerous occasions, stuffed his errant member back inside his boxers as they watched movies together. Miles had nonchalantly unhooked Sophie’s bra to massage her. They had held one another in such a sexual stare that it was broken only because they had to touch. Such extremes and everything in between drove Miles’ love for Sophie even deeper into…wherever love like that dives into.

After basking for a moment they realized that they did not want to be in camp for their celebration.

“Let’s get a room. Just you and I. We can do anything. Window shop, have a nice dinner, split a bottle of wine, taxi around, whatever. This is something we should remember.” Sophie nodded.

“Okay. Miles, We’re getting married.”

“I know we are, sweetheart. It’s…I can’t even say anything right now without it sounding cheesy.”

“I know. You don’t have to have an answer all the time.”

“Remember you said that. I don’t know why, off the top of my head, but-I’m running at the mouth. Sorry.”

“It’s okay. You’re just in love. I thought you would be used to it by now. It’s nice, isn’t it?”

“I don’t think I could live without it now that I know what it’s about.”

“Let’s go somewhere fun, Lover.” Miles agreed and they nearly ran to his Jeep after throwing enough clothes in a pair of suitcases.

“You and I have spent a lot of time hiding out in this old girl,” Miles waxed.

“We’ll have to keep it forever.” Miles laughed. “You know what? I’m going to have to take a whole new driving test. You should let me drive sometime to get used to the opposite way of doing things.”

“Fair enough. We’ll find some country road and-“

“I know how to drive, you bloody arse.”

“Ok, ok. Where are we going?”

They ended up back at the Borders where they had wiled away so many hours before. The time they spent inside the bookstore was almost choreographed. The two split inside the doors and swished through opposite sections for a while before rejoining in the middle to check in. They would separate and regroup three or four times over the coarse of the afternoon; ending their trip to the shopping plaza outside of the Starbucks sipping four-dollar macchiatos.

“I guess ‘fun’ is just being out, hey?” Sophie commented, about a quarter of the way through her drink.

“Sure. I mean, I’d like to go to a bunch of great places with you, but the ‘with you’ part is the most important.”

“We have all kinds of time.”

“We’ll have a fantastic honeymoon. Maybe not right away, but we’ll do it.”

“I’ll be sure to hold you to that.” Sophie curled her foot around Miles’ shin under the see-through table.

“I heard a quote once about finding something magical in the everyday. Maybe Walt Disney or someone like that. But I can see what they were getting at when we spend our afternoons like this. It’s still fun, isn’t it? We may not think much of it right now, but maybe one day we’ll smile at the thought of sitting outside a coffee shop and talking about all our great plans.”

“I think it has definitely become one of our ‘things’. Maybe picking Starbucks was a good thing. Stir up some good times in Chicago or anywhere else.”

“I’ll go along with that.”

Sophie rubbed her wring slowly. “This may sound strange, but I’m really glad that I’ve never done this sort of thing before.” She continued rubbing the ring as she visibly gathered her thoughts. “I’m glad we have something that’s just ours. I’ll never feel quite this way again. And when I feel something else it will be with you, too. I don’t have to worry about anyone but you for the rest of my life.”

“Sophie, you don’t have to worry about me at all. I’m so enthralled with you I wouldn’t notice if you were an axe murderer.”

“So morbid!”

“Well, my point is don’t care what anyone thinks. I’ve already decided what I think of you,” He closed his hand over hers, stilling her rubbing finger. “And that conclusion should be pretty obvious, I hope.”

“God, look at you! You can still make me blush. And in a public place!” Miles let go of Sophie’s hand and she tried to make her face calm down.

“You are something else. That’s why I love you.”

“So I’m weird, hey?”

“Goodness, yes. You’re the queerest person I’ve ever met! You fascinate me!”

“I don’t quite know how I feel about that.”

“Good. It’s my job to keep you guessing. I’ve already given up so many secrets.”

“And there’s nothing else I couldn’t get out of you after a night of really good sex.”

“It’s the truth. And I love it when you talk dirty in public.”

“I know.”

“I know you know.”

“This is getting bloody ridiculous!” Sophie leaned over the table and like two bookends on an empty shelf moved by the same hand Miles was there kissing her. “We’re both ridiculous,” she sighed when they were finished and slumping back to their own sides of the table.

“That’s how we got matched up. Come on, we’ve been over this.” Miles grinned daringly at Sophie. She just closed her eyes and shook her head smiling.

“Let’s take these and walk around a bit more. I’m getting jittery. It may not just be the coffee, but it’s too early to tell.”

Miles smiled at the innuendo. “If you say anything else I may not be able to get up and walk.”

“I didn’t even do anything!” Sophie feigned. They stood up and Sophie took Miles’ free hand in hers. She swung them casually as they walked with separate but equally fitting songs stuck in their heads to provide a soundtrack for the afternoon.

When they found themselves at the Jeep daylight was fading. They drove back under and orange sky in a sleepy satisfied silence.

“Miles?” Sophie asked as he pulled into the camp’s parking lot.

“Yeah, Sophie?”

“You’re right. I will miss these coffee shop days.”

“Nothing says they have to end, Love. Let’s go make some tea. They shuffled down staff row arm in arm like two merry drunks.

“We have got to do something about the wedding, Miles,” Sophie said over breakfast the next morning.

“Let’s. One less thing to worry about. Do you want to have it around here?”

“How much of your family lives in Chicago?”

“Just my parents. My dad’s family is in Southern Ohio, about twelve hours away, and my mom’s family is from southern Illinois, maybe six hours away. They met at UIC.”

“Maybe we should keep it around there, like we said before. We’ll be living there, anyways, right? One less trip and worry.”

“I suppose. I really want at least Scott and Kyra to come, though.”

“Emma will be gone by then. Jabari is in Michigan. That’s not too far away. We’ll invite everyone we think might come, at least.”

“I think we’ll get at least Scott and Kyra. Maybe Jabari. That’s pretty much who we want anyway, right?”

“Yeah, I mean, the overseas guys will be gone. Gerri would be fun, but Texas is a long ways away.”

“And of course my Best Man Paul will be there.”

“Do not even joke about that, Miles Drake.”

“Sorry. I guess that covers everyone.”

“We’ll send an announcement to the office and everything.”

“Sure, sure. Um, church, or?”

“I’d love to do it outdoors, actually. Where do we get a priest?”

“I don’t know. Neither of us are particularly religious. How about I ask my parents? They’ll want to here any updates, and my mom would probably be thrilled to help out. She could find someone, as long as you don’t care.”

“I just want to be legal. There’s no time for romance.” She tried to curl her lip with stubbornness but Miles had to laugh when she wound up looking like a naïve coed auditioning for a dirty magazine.

“Right, then. I’ll call the Drakes, and then I’ll try some venues. There are a couple of nice parks with terraces around my neighborhood.”

“That sounds perfect.”

“I can rent a tux the day of. What do you want to do for a dress?”

“I don’t know.”

“Sorry, I’m not implying you have to-“

“I’m sure you would rather we get married in what we’re wearing right now. But I wouldn’t mind a simple dress. You’re not buying it, that’s for sure.” She curled her left hand into a fist on the table to make sure Miles saw the glint of what he had already given her.

“Fair enough. You’re on your own.” Miles went to the phone desk to call his parents. Sophie soon moved her chair to sit beside him. She was not particularly listening to the conversation, she just didn’t like sitting at the other table by herself. She put her head on Miles’ shoulder where it had rested countless times before and her cheek felt his voice vibrate through his body.

“Well that was easy enough,” Miles said, hanging up the phone. “My mom’s going to take care of the minister and the location, told her what we wanted of course, so that leaves us in charge og getting dressed and getting there.”

“And a reception.”

“Oh. I guess I could have had my parents take care of that, too. I’ll call once mom gets a location. God, this is complicated.”

“We’ll call a caterer with how many people we’re serving, and get a price. Although, I have no idea how much something like that costs. Five dollars a person, maybe a hundred people, maybe. Five hundred dollars for food…”

“No, no, no. My family knows how to cook. We could do that bit in-house. Renting a hall might cost a couple of hundred, but we could definitely pull the whole thing off for five or less.” Miles looked at Sophie and frowned. “I’m sorry. That was probably the most unromantic thing I’ve ever said. What do you want to do?”

“Oh, Miles, I know what you’re saying. We’re in this together. I know money’s a big thing. We’ll probably be destitute by the time we get through with this. But we’ll start again, free and clear. That’s what’s important.”

“If I hadn’t already asked you to marry me that would have done it,” Miles said, and then kissed her sweetly.”

“So now we wait some more.”

“Actually, I should probably call my parents back and propose the food part to them.” He turned and called Chicago again, using a made up excuse of important errands to keep the conversation short. “That worked splendidly,” Miles marveled. “What do you want to do now?”

“We should stay here today, I think.”

“Sophie Martin! You never say something like that. What’s come over you?”

“You’ve come over me.” She smiled to herself.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“No, no ‘nothings’ allowed.”

“Right…right after you said that, I imagined that you called me Sophie Drake.”

“I could start,” Miles ventured.

“No, not until it’s official. It was just nice to think about.” Since Sophie’s arms were already slung across Miles’ waist she gave him a squeeze. “Soon enough.”

Miles shook his head with the smile he had caught from Sophie. “When you say things like that it just makes me want to curl up in bed with you and tell you every sweet thing I can think to say.”
“So what’s stopping you?”

Tea- Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Camp was abuzz with excitement on Monday. A few universities had released their students with more to follow suit and in four days there would be two new people in camp. Rocky and John had shown up on the newest schedule out of nowhere. When further inquiries were made it was discovered that Rocky had been a counselor for a couple of years and was trying out a role as a village director that year, which meant he would oversee all the six to eight year old counselors. It also meant that he would be living in a staff cabin once the year-round men moved out. John was a brand-new counselor who had just finished his freshman year of college at the University of Florida. He would be with the youngest kids under Rocky for the summer.

The newcomers also signified the beginning of the end. Summer camp was beginning in a month and within a matter of weeks the dynamic of Ontanogan would change forever, as far as the current staff was concerned. The dusting of culture they had built up over five months would be blown away in a matter of days.

“Well, it’ll be a nice way to break the new guys in,” Jabari concluded after most of the old-timers had regrouped in the lounge after a day of team-building sessions with middle-schoolers. He was talking about the farewell bonfire they were planning on having the weekend after the one coming up.

“Yeah, and if they’re not cool, what are they going to do, get us fired?” Gerri asked. A smattering of laughter answered her question.

“Let’s get out of here,” Sophie asked Miles with a whisper. Miles started moving without an answer. Sophie led Miles to the stairs behind his cabin. “Do you remember this?”

Miles nodded. “We shared a bottle of Merlot back here the first day we met.”

“And then we talked all night about…everything. I knew you for one day and I wasn’t afraid to tell you anything. Why was that? I should have known back then what would come of it all.”

“I remember hearing you and being scared someone would find me with contraband, like it was prison or something, and then seeing you. You were who I was hoping for.”

“You see? I knew you had something romantic to say.”

“Sophie, for as terrified as I’ve been about all of this, I’ve never had a doubt that it’s been worth it. Every time I look into your eyes-“

“Oh Miles, quit.”

“Sorry. It’s your fault. I was never like this until you came along.”

“I think that you’ve always been like this. You just didn’t notice it.” Miles nodded ad noticed that some things stayed the same. The peeling brown paint on the stairs and walls as well as the mosquito-burned lamplight was as static as the first time he had snuck a bottle onto the back ‘porch’.

“Yet another place we’ll miss,” Miles said, more to himself than Sophie. She sighed just the same. They would have said something more but anything they could have uttered to one another had been said a hundred times before.

“Miles, are we crazy?” Sophie asked eventually.

“Of course, Sophie. We’re out of our minds. Isn’t that how it’s supposed to be?”

“If you say so.” They stared out into the woods silently for what seemed like hours.

“It’s so funny. We’re both from cities but we met one another in the woods. I never thought trees would represent so much, but here we are.”

“Would you have married me if you didn’t have to?”

Miles’ sober buzz was stopped short. “Um, well, probably not so soon, in all honesty,”

“That’s what I wanted to hear.” Sophie reaffirmed her position with a possessive kiss.

“I would have wanted you to come with me, though, as much as I want you to come with me now. So I guess it doesn’t really matter how it came to be. I never thought I’d be marrying someone when I came out here, that’s for sure. And I hope you won’t hate me for sounding really clichéd, but now I couldn’t imagine not marrying you.”

“I forgive you. Clichés exist because they’re true most of the time.”

“No one but you.”

“What?”

“Nothing. This is why I’m marrying you.”

“Right here?” Sophie leaned into Miles.

“Sophie?”

“Miles?”

“I wish there was something else I could say other than what I’ve already promised you.”

“I know. Shut up.” He did. They sat on the back steps of Miles’ cabin for a while longer, both realizing that it would probably be the last time they would set together at the first place they had really met, until cold and exhaustion got the best of them.

Tuesday, May 9

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

“Miles?”

“Yeah, Sophie?”

“I love you. Let’s run away together.” She giggled herself awake.

“You are ridiculous,” Miles answered after Sophie had regained her composure. “But for the record I love you too, and I think running away together would be a splendid idea.”

“We should call our parents today and tell them we haven’t planned a bloody thing yet.”

“I’m sure that they would love to here that. Shall we go to work first?”

“Do we have too?”

“How else are we going to pay for our extravagant life together?”

“Good point. You’re going to have to get a better job so I can bask in luxury.”

“There’s no question that’s what you deserve. But you picked me instead. So get up and hide those curves with a staff shirt.”

“Miles, you flatter me.”

“Just pointing out the obvious. You’re sexy, and you’re going to have to come to terms with that eventually.”

“Oh my God, you’re re ridiculous.” Sophie glided off the bed nonetheless with Miles close behind.

They made it to the dining hall with well over three minutes to spare. The routine they had become so very accustomed to was slipped into unconsciously. Another day of team-building and faux-outdoor education was on the agenda. It was a different school, but the faces and activities all seemed the same by the first week of May.

“Don’t you worry, Sophie. We’re going to do sensational things together. I can feel it. We’re too fun.” She smiled and nudged his shoulders with hers.

“Let’s have fun with this, man,” Miles said as he and Jabari stood waiting for their group in the dining hall after breakfast. “Let’s do this like we don’t give a shit. Have fun.”

“Yeah,” Jabari chuckled. “What are they going to do? Fire us?”

“Exactly. I want to be laughing the whole damn day.”

“That sounds like a fucking plan, man. I’m with you. Let’s get these kids out there.” The duo’s group amassed in front of them just after the last of their plan was formulated.

The cohorts led their group out onto the challenge course to begin the activities. The first element of the day was called ‘whale watch’. The object was to get everyone on a deck straddling a fulcrum. The challenge would be bested when the group was all on the ‘ship’ and it was balanced with neither side touching the ground. Miles and Jabari eschewed the textbook story and spun a yarn to the effect of a James-Bond type sensor pad that had to be turned off before they could move on to the next top-secret spy thingy. It felt so good to both of them to ad-lib bullshit after so much repetition that they could not help but smile.

As a result of their shenanigans the morning disappeared faster than they had ever seen and they were the only ones smiling and jabbering as they walked into the dining hall for lunch.

“What the hell has gotten into you two?” Sophie asked, smiling contagiously.

Miles kissed her on the cheek. “We had a blast this morning.”

“What did you do?”

“I don’t even know.”

“Some James Bond Shit!” Jabari laughed and slapped hands with Miles.

“We told the kids everything was a top secret spy mission. We were doing barrel rolls and ninja-creeping and shit all morning. Stuff I haven’t done since I was a kid. They loved it!”

“Wow. I haven’t seen you this excited about a group since…I’ve never seen you this excited about a group.”

“We decided this morning that we just didn’t care anymore. Not in a bad way, I suppose, but we just wanted to have fun.”

“Oh. That’s good. I’m glad you’re in a good mood.”

“I am in a great mood. If there weren’t so many people around I’d take my extra energy out on you right now.”

“Miles!” Jabari laughed behind her and punched the back of Miles’ shoulder.

“Ah, enough of that. Let’s get some lunch.”

Jabari and Miles settled down a bit during lunch but the cool spy tricks they made up with their kids on the low-ropes activities were nothing compared to what they came up with when they were doing the giant swing and the zip-line after lunch.

“We even made up a handshake,” Miles said to Sophie in the buffet line. “Watch this.” He had spotted one of his kids making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich at a cart-island diagonally ahead of them. “Hey James!” The kid ran over. Miles held his hand out and he and James started into a series of choreographed grasps. After a quick ninja-bow James went back to slathering grape jelly on his bread. Sophie nodded and shook her head, smiling with confusion.

“So is this the new Miles?” Sophie asked once they had set down at the staff table with full plates.

“I don’t know. You know how we decided that we’re the most important thing to one another?”

“Yeah, the whole marriage thing, right?”

Miles smiled. “Right. Well, when I’m with you I don’t care about anything but you. Every time I look in you eyes, and I’m so sorry if this sounds like something out of a movie, but every time I look into your eyes or see you smile or feel your skin, I don’t care about anything else but what would make you happy because that makes me happy. But I only do that with you. So, this morning I decided to feel like that with something else. Makes me feel guilty, actually. But it worked. I just gave myself to this crazy adventure fantasy and I was thrilled with it the whole day. It was great.”

“Wow. That’s…that’s really amazing. I like seeing you this way. I was getting worried.”

“Well, it’s a work in progress. But maybe I found out I like this stuff, doing it by the seat of my pants, anyways. Maybe you made me feel so good that I wanted to start feeling that way all the time. I don’t know.”

“That’s sweet.” And in an unprecedented move, Sophie initiated an open-mouthed kiss in public.

Weariness set in during the evening campfire but even as Miles walked with Sophie to their bed a spring could still be found in his step.

Miles stared at Sophie without moving until his eyes adjusted to the darkness. He waited until he could see either the moon or a street lamp in her eyes before he spoke.

“I love you, Sophie.”

“I love you, Miles.”