Wondrous Place (Milex)

1. In the Heat of the Afternoon

It was June 2016, the band had been on tour for three months and the fatigue was setting in, but in one way or another they always managed to give their all in each of the concerts. They hoped everyone who came to see them left the show absolutely delighted with what they'd seen. They liked to connect with the public, interact with them and feel close to them. Because of this, in addition to going to the big stadiums and festivals, they had decided to play smaller venues, without much hype.

That week they were in Barcelona, and they had two concerts scheduled: one at Primavera Sound and another in a small park on the Friday and Saturday. After this, they would have a couple of days off to rest and just be tourists. On Saturday night, after giving the concert in the park, they met Vera, a very nice girl who showed them the wonders of the Barcelona nightlife and gave them the address of the small bar that she ran with her partner, in case they wanted to come over the next day. They wrote down the address but politely told her they didn't think they would be able to go, as they were naturally exhausted after so much time on tour.

In any case, they really enjoyed spending time with Vera, who ended up calling a taxi for them to return to their hotel, because they were already quite drunk and they didn't speak Spanish and the driver claimed not to understand English.

The band all woke up on Sunday morning with hangovers. Some stayed in the hotel all day and others decided to go out to visit the city, which was sticky with the humid heat of the Mediterranean coast summer. As was the custom, everyone did their own thing, since they had already spent too much time together and in those free moments they took the opportunity to get away from each other momentarily. It was a coincidence that both Miles and Alex had chosen to walk aimlessly through the city, risking being recognized in public. Miles came out around noon, after coffee in the hotel cafeteria, wearing a linen shirt and summer slacks. Alex, who had woken later and had taken longer to eat his late breakfast, left the hotel a short while after, dressed more casually in a short-sleeved T-shirt and jeans.

They both walked slowly through the metropolis, feeling how the scorching sun on their skin began to make them sweat, and enjoying their anonymity among the crowd of tourists. Chance —or perhaps a kind of strange synchrony that existed between the two— caused them to meet just a hundred meters from the promenade, and they decided to walk along it together. They had walked too much for their day off, so they bought some food at a beach bar and sat down on the beach to eat dinner around seven in the evening - still reluctant to abandon English dinner time and adapt to a Spanish one. Obviously, they weren't the best sandwiches of their lives, but they enjoyed each other's company and had a few laughs on the beach.

The tide had risen to brush their feet, and Alex began to fool around and tried to splash Miles. They chased each other, laughing and shouting in the knee-deep sea. It was not clear if they looked like two children or two newly in love. Alex tried to throw his friend into the water, but Miles resisted again and again, until finally he was the one who fell face-first into the water after tripping. At that moment, Miles decided to dive in and act like he was rescuing Alex from the deepest ocean. He picked him up like a bride, and asked if he also needed mouth-to-mouth. Alex blushed at the thought that Miles was serious and was going to try and kiss him there and then, but, after a few tense seconds of silence, he laughed, trying to pretend it was nothing. Faced with Alex's non-affirmative response Miles dropped him in the sea again, and immediately received a dunking as punishment.

It took a while longer, but finally they came out of the water still smiling and not quite knowing the meaning of what had just happened. Both were clear that there had always been a special connection between them that made them feel absolutely comfortable with each other. On many occasions that special rapport became something almost paranormal, terribly beautiful but also incredibly disturbing. From the beginning, it seemed perfectly natural to them and to the people around them, that this was strange from two supposedly straight men. They just fitted extraordinarily well together. To everyone they were a perfect match except for the fact they weren't actually a couple. That mysterious rapport was not a taboo subject between them either, but whenever they spoke about it, it was in a humorous or sarcastic way. They felt it was something so organic and natural that they never really gave it thought. Or at least they never dared to do it out loud. On the other hand, physical contact was also quite frequent; rubbing their bodies together and even the occasional kiss was shared.

After drying off as much as possible with the first towels they found lying on the beach, without people watching them, they tried to leave without being too noticeable and ran to put on their shoes and finish putting their damp clothes on, laughing. Fortunately, it was not yet dark and the sun ended up drying them completely while they continued walking. Talking enthusiastically, they ended up lost in the city, not noticing their surroundings but only the presence of each other.

They were enjoying each other's company so much they forgot their tiredness and didn't want the night to end —in fact, they felt that it had just begun— and they didn't really know where to go. They remembered Vera and found the address for her place and stop by for a drink. They managed to arrive around half past ten. They spent a while chatting about music with Vera and Joana, her partner, who insisted on inviting them to stay, at least until that night's act came on. Finally, the couple had to leave to prepare the stage for the group that would play in just a few minutes. It was a Catalan punk band with a repertoire that mixed their own songs and quite a few covers in Spanish and English, aware that this was what mostly encouraged the public.