Before us...

Chapter Nineteen

Milo had planned to spend New Year's Eve in the same fashion he spent Christmas day. Alone. He had left early in the morning to waste a few hours at the gym in hopes that he would tire himself out and sleep through the night. At six o'clock in the morning, he had forced himself out of his dazed state and shuffled straight into the bathroom to splash some freezing cold water on his face in hopes that it would widen his eyes slightly. It had little to know effect and he simply went about his morning ablutions before moving back into his room to force some comfy sweats on his tired body, grabbing his gym bag before he left the house.

Walking to the gym had more of a waking affect than water in the face had. By the time he was rounding the corner to his destination he was shivering, his bag shaking in his hand as he rushed inside out of the cold.

Flashing his membership card, he was quickly granted access to walk through the big steel double doors that would lead him to the locker rooms. He locked his bag safely away in his locker before moving quickly into the equipment room to begin his routine. In his still somewhat dazed state. He began to stretch his tired muscles until they ached in protest. Milo lifted his hands above his head in various positions in hope that he would warm up quickly before moving on to stretch his legs which awoke much easier due to the walk there.

Once he was adequately warmed up, he began. Milo moved from weights of different mass exercising different areas of his body finally beginning to see a change in his body. It was a little under what it had been when he was in the army, but he was slowly seeing some progress. Moving from Machine to the next, he worked his whole body harder and harder until his body was dripping with sweat, his joints began to whine in submission. Two hours he spent there before moving onto the punching bag to cool down and relieve some stress that had been handing over him for some time.

His mind had been plagued by reminders of what tonight would be like for him. He was aware of how loud it would be, how torturously long the firework shows will be as soon as that clock stuck midnight and he was painfully aware that he needed to be exhausted by the end of the day in order to sleep through the whole event. It was stressful and he was anxious for it to end quickly.

Milo left the gym just after nine o'clock making his way towards Graces for some supplies. He was angry at himself for his latest fall back on alcohol however on nights like tonight he felt it was a necessary evil. Milo's plan was to continue to tire himself out throughout the day in whatever ways he could before proceeding to step two much later in the evening which consisted simply of drinking enough to pass out to which he hoped would sleep through the night without any interruptions from the outside world.

When he entered the store, he chanced a quick glance towards the register to see that Grace was still rolling solo causing him to sigh silently to himself. Since their call on Boxing Day, Milo had not heard from Lila, he was beginning to worry once more. He had kept his promise and was remaining patient, but his mind would wander to her constantly; he was starting to worry for his sanity. Grabbing a basket as the door closed behind him, he began to pick various products that he felt he would need to help him stay sustained throughout the week eventually moving over to the refrigerators to grab a couple bottles of beer. Chips and a few fruits and vegetables were added to the basket before Milo made his way towards the front of the store joining the small line of people that were waiting to be checked out. The store moved a lot slower without Lila's input.

Eventually, it was Milo's turn and he heaved his heavy basket onto the checkout counter as Grace began to scan his items.

"Could I grab a couple bottles of Jack as well Grace?" Milo asked pulling his wallet out of his back pocket to start counting his money.

"Sure thing Darling, how are ya?" Grace asked before turning around grabbing two bottles down from the middle shelf behind the register.

"Can't complain... how are you? Have you heard from Lila?" His curiosity getting the better of him. Grace sighs continuing to scan as she speaks.