Kipp

Part 3. Miles

His heart had been beating a mile a minute a few minutes ago at the thought of Indigo Parker taking him on an adventure. He felt embarrassed about how he acted towards her and Kaia, who was not his biggest fan. What was he thinking?! Telling Indigo that he "needed to get back to work". It wasn't even true. Currently, he was trying to catch his breath behind one of the buildings. He covered his face in his hands and leaned against the wall before cursing at himself. "Goddammit, Miles! What the hell is wrong with you!" he wasn't worried as much about Kaia not liking him, what he was worried about was Indigo. Don't be stupid, Miles. There's no way she'd ever like someone like you. He pushed away the unsettling feeling that grew in his stomach and tried to shake off any worry he had. It was supposed to be fun! Why wouldn't it be, he was going on a boat with the girl of his dreams and then- "Miles! Miles, where are you!" A shrill voice came from the front of the building. No one could holler as she could. He cautiously stepped away from the back of the building and made his way toward his guardian. Mrs. Till was a willowy woman. Her cheekbones were high and so were her standards for many things, one of them being whoever Miles hung out with. She wasn't entirely fond of Indigo and had made that abundantly clear the first time around.

Miles knew how protective Kaia was of the young girl, and the tension between the two unwavering women could have snapped harder than a rubber band at any point. Kaia certainly had ways of making people respect her but so did Mrs. Till who held her head high and wore her pride openly. Indigo had expressed her apology and her embarrassment to her friend shortly after the two adults had vacated the area and all Miles could do was pat her shoulder and assure her it was okay. He knew Kaia would continue her values and so would Mrs. Till. There would be no stopping either of them until one decided to back down.

Miles followed Mrs. Till inside the shop, where she promptly handed him a broom and told him to sweep the floors. "Yes ma'am. I'll be right on it." He sighed heavily and pushed the wiry tool back and forth, clearing the tiniest amount of dust from the floorboards. He was already tired of it, there wasn't much to do here as she always had someone on hand, cleaning and bustling away when Miles was at work or with his friends. The deep red of the wood beneath his feet had always sparkled in the sunsets, and it set a comfortable glow about the room. He squinted his eyes against the glare from the windows that threatened to blind him and looked over to the older woman standing. Currently, she was organizing the shelves, meticulously pulling and shifting the trinkets she had for sale around until she was satisfied. Miles knew every one of them by heart. He wondered about the stories that came with them, figuring he could ask Mrs. Till but had a sudden resolve about it and decided not to.

When he was finished, he set the broom back in the closet before leaning against the wall. "Miles, dear, would you mind helping me for a moment? I can't seem to place this back on the shelf." Mrs. Till called from the other end of the room where she was holding a little glass figure. He nodded and pushed off from where he was standing to make his way over to her. He had to admit, it was nice to be living here instead of his old home in Aggeria.