Against All Odds

Chapter Eleven

The house has been sort of tense lately. Milo has been keeping to himself, smiling and saying hello when he gets home, but everything else is done quietly. I hate it, but don't know what to do about it. 

He had told me that he was not mad at me when I confronted him the other day, but he has been drawing in on himself. Nothing I do seems to be working, so I have resolved to let him go at his own pace.

I know things have been hard, things hitting him one right after another. Aaron leaving him, the suppressants in his system, and his harsh heat. It seems as if he is never getting a break.

Well, that's what I am here for. Milo had left for work early this morning, in charge of opening the coffee shop and then closing the bookshop. It is going to be a long day, and I hate that he pushes himself so much. He never allows himself to take a break, but it has always been his way of coping.

Looking down at the papers in my hand, I quickly memorize the fax number Milo had scrawled across a sticky note before typing it into the machine. I didn't know people still used these things, but apparently, his lawyer does. She had asked Milo to fax her the divorce papers that Aaron had given him so that she could look over them before their meeting in a couple weeks.

There are so many papers, so it takes a while to get them all through the machine in order to be faxed, but eventually, the task gets done.

The day passes slowly. All of the kids in my class are bouncing off the walls, way too energized after being cooped up all day. The rain outside has only increased, making the playground a muddy mess. By the time the parents come to pick them up, I am exhausted.

But I don't want to just go back to the house and wait all day for Milo to get home. Instead, I grab my stuff and drive over to the coffee shop. There are not too many people there at the moment, since it is the middle of a weekday, making it easy enough for me to buy a drink.

"Mr. Bellamy!" Xania exclaims, smiling when she sees me step up to grab my drink. "How are you?"

"I'm doing great, Xania, thank you. And call me Ollie, please. Mr. Bellamy makes me feel old."

She nods her head, handing over my drink. "Mr. Katz is in the bookstore right now. Would you like me to get him?"

Smiling at her, I take the drink, warming my hands by wrapping my fingers tightly around the drink. "No, it's fine. I don't want to bother him."

Someone calls Xania's name, and she looks over her shoulder, brows scrunching before turning back to look at me. "I got to go see what that's about. Have a good afternoon, Ollie."

"You too, Xania."

Looking around the coffee shop, I see a nice empty recliner in the corner of the coffee shop, near the fireplace. One of the things that draws people to this place so much is the coziness of it. It feels more like home instead of a cold, sterile store. When Milo was first designing this place, he had debated whether or not to go the more modern route for coffee shop designs but had finally settled on making the place more comfortable. Clearly, this decision is paying off.

The fire feels amazing, and soon enough I find myself starting to doze, despite the fact that I am sipping on a coffee. Someone sitting in the chair across from me startles me from the half sleep I had found myself in, causing me to almost spill the rest of my coffee.

"Didn't mean to scare you," a familiar voice says. Blinking my eyes, I look over at the person, noticing Milo smiling at me. His hair is in its usual half do. The top is twisted into a bun, while the strands that are too short fall around his face, resting just above his shoulders. "How long have you been here?"