When can you come back again? [MILEX] +18

10

In the first stormy week without Miles, I divided my time into work, although concentrating on it became incredibly difficult. The other half, to find out his whereabouts. I tried not to exalt myself and be polite to those I thought had some kind of information, but I was easily upset when they didn't. The owner of his apartment was glad to finally have the money he lacked, but he refused to give me any kind of information and demanded that I take what was left of him. After arguing for a couple of minutes, I managed to convince him to keep renting the place, offering twenty percent more than Miles was paying, and giving half up front. I gave him my word as a guarantee, as well as a card with the telephone number and address of the hotel. His greedy personality readily accepted. He handed me an extra set of keys and I went to the room. Few furniture inhabited it. My heart squeezed when I saw the half-finished suitcase on the floor. On my knees, I took one of his clothes and brought it to my nose, his perfume impregnated in it, I breathed in and I let out the contained crying. I walked through his space for a couple of hours, feeling bad for invading him, but looking among his things for an agenda where I can find something that will take me to his dad. Miles didn't keep any of those things. Disappointed, I went back to the hotel. It took almost three weeks to obtain an address where I believed Mr. Kane lived. I showed up on a Saturday morning. A sleepy teenager manned the door of a fancy house in a suburban London neighbourhood.

- Good morning, I'm looking for Peter Kane, is this his home?

The boy who couldn't be older than seventeen scratched his head, yawned, and then yelled "Dad" . He released the door and leaned against the wall, inviting me inside. I did so cautiously, at the same time that a man with glasses, dressed in a sweater and dress pants, appeared.

- Who are you?

- Peter, right? I'm Alexander, a friend of Miles ... I am looking for him and I assumed that since you are his father you must know where he is

- Alexander?

His question was rhetorical. Had he told him about me?

- So you are Alexander, the one who kept my son in a hotel getting high

- Excuse me?

- He shouted your name, you know, he said you were waiting for him, my son was hiding from me like a rat in a luxury hotel!

- I think there is a misunderstanding ...

- What if the press found out that the great Tranquility Base Hotel, the great and recommended family hotel, houses people with addiction problems? He could be dead, you endorsed this, you sure are in the same shit!

- You are so mistaken! I helped him get out of that shit! I would never allow himself to get hurt!

- Get off my property!

- I need to know where he is and I'll go. I need to see it, I have the right to visit it!

- Right? Who do you think you are to demand rights over my son?

I was tempted to exclaim "his partner" but I shut up. I wouldn't know if that would make things worse.

- Look, I don't know what you have understood about Miles, nor are you allowing me to explain, I'm just a friend, who appreciates him very much, and as I already told you, I want to see him, I need him

- and I need you to leave, I will not ask you again, I will call the police, I will tell them that you are involved in illegal situations. Do you want your hotel to be raided?

I thought of Nick and Kelly, Breana with Matt, Jamie with Katie and my nephews. If the police went to the hotel, they wouldn't find anything out of place other than Miles was checked into the hotel. The problem would be the media exposure, the exaggeration of a simple story in one that entertains and denigrates the place. I couldn't let that happen to the place we built with so much effort. Resigned, I walked away. Peter yelled a couple of expletives at me that my troubled mind couldn't make out.

Don't you know an apparition is a cheap date?

Gradually the days turned into weeks, and the weeks into months. Not being able to locate Miles was consuming me. I was terrified to think that something bad had been done to him. To make matters worse, I saw his face everywhere. Under a spell I'm hypnotised. The aftermath of my physical and mental fatigue were having an effect; bad mood, irritation, anger, insomnia, sadness. nostalgia, lack of appetite and great consolation in alcohol. One afternoon when I returned to the hotel in the city, on another day lost without finding his whereabouts, I found my nephews playing in the hall with Katie. While the others, discreetly, lowered suitcases, cribs, toys and the well-known accessories of the children. When I asked her what was going on, she informed me that they will be moving into the hotel for a couple of weeks. The news infuriated me. Did they think I was unfit to work? I distanced myself from them for a few days, without speaking to them unless it is due to a work situation. When my mood subsided, I called a meeting to apologise and make amends. They left their home, to settle in their work, to accompany me and alleviate the deterioration of my person.  I shouldn't have been so foolish.

Vehicles will pass by but I know when it's you

At the beginning of December, I returned to his apartment. I pushed the only decent chair he owned in front of the window. I would settle for hours watching the traffic.

You sit and try sometimes but you just can't figure out what went wrong

I still had the illusion that a car would be stationary and I would see him get out of it.

Miles just might have tapped into my mind and soul that didn't assure that perhaps "Forever" isn't for everyone.