His secret

Chapter 18

"Common Miles, just get in I promise you won't fall" I try to convince him. "Sunshine, there are a lot of things that I would do for your happiness but getting myself killed on skating ice isn't gonna be one of those things," he explains, standing on the edge of the skating rink barely holding his balance with the skating shoes while inspecting the whole skating area as if making sure that it is safe before he possibly could consider getting in. "Stop being dramatic Miles, you're not gonna die," I try again as I skate towards him and grab a hold of his hand trying to force him into the rink. Normally I wouldn't be able to move him because he is much bigger and stronger than me, but his bad balance on those skating shoes is to my advantage and makes it easy for me to get him inside and try to move him around a little. "Nova, no, no, no stop it, Nova." 

"I'm trying to help you out just hold on to me and follow my lead," I say as I drag him slowly into the middle of the rink to make it impossible for him to get out and escape without trying. I suggested the idea of us skating together three months ago while we were eating the dinner that I prepared for us, but he brushed it off immediately and told me to forget it and that he would never in a million years try to skate. So what I had to do today was simply tell him that I wanted to eat out and that the place that I've picked is a surprise. I even told him that drinks were included which means he can't drive so that we could take a taxi because if he was the one to drive us he would've figured it out immediately and would've made a turn back home. And me driving us there is still not an option. Miles started some driving sessions with me a while ago when I finally agreed to it. We started off small with me just getting into the drivers seat. The panic immediately hit when I got in, making me remember the night of the accident. Thankfully Miles was sitting beside me and he managed to calm me down, "Count your fingers, Sunshine," he told me. I lifted my face from the steering wheel to look at him, confused as to why he requested that. "Why should I count my fingers?" 

"Just count them," he repeats. I lift my hands making them face my eyes as I start counting them under my breath. "I've counted them," I tell him when I'm finished counting. "Good girl, that's my Sunshine." 

"And now what?" I ask, still confused

"I don't know," he says shrugging his shoulders. "You don't know?" 

"Yeah, I don't know"

"Why did you make me count my fingers then?" 

"That I don't know either, Sunshine, sorry."

"So you just felt like making me count my fingers for nothing?"

"It wasn't for nothing, Sunshine. Believe me, I always have a reason behind things I do. Look you're not panicking anymore," he says with a proud tone as he points at me with both of his hands. I stay quiet for a minute, making the calm feeling sink in, he is right I'm not panicking anymore, I'm sitting in the driver's seat calm for the first time since the accident and I didn't even realize it before he pointed it out. "I'm...I'm calm. But when I mean how?" 

"Counting fingers was just a random thing, I could've asked you to do anything else but that was what came to my mind. You simply got confused and started thinking about your fingers and questioning why I asked you to count them so you completely forgot about where you were sitting and that made you calm down. Easy trick, Sunshine, want to calm them? Confuse them," he explains as I start to tear up. "Thank you, Miles," I say before I get up and jump into his lap, planting kisses on his lips. And ever since that time we've gone out and practiced little by little and I've made improvements. So far I can drive, but only when the streets are completely empty, and for that to happen Miles stays up with me until three o'clock in the morning on practice day because that is usually the time when our street gets empty. 

"Why did you drag me to the middle, Nova? How am I supposed to get back now?" he asks while his leg trembles, barely standing. "That's the whole point." 

"You should've at least waited for me to marry you so that you could inherit my money," he says without looking at me, too busy watching his feet, trying to figure out how to make them stand steady. Did he mention marriage? A warm feeling creeps into my skin, filling my whole body and concurring out the chilly winter cold. But I don't think that it is happening in the near future, I don't think that he meant it in that way. But it still makes me happy because just that he thought about marriage should mean that this relationship is very serious for him. "If you really think that you're gonna die, then I should bring you a penguin to hold onto," I tease him. "A what?" he looks up at me for the first time since I got him in here, leaving his feet alone. "One of those," I say as I point at a group of kids in the age range 3-6, holding onto plastic penguins as they learn to skate with their parents. He glances at them then turns back to me with the humiliation plastered all over his face, and I just can't hold back my laugh. "You're gonna pay for this," he says as he tries to reach me but I've already skated away from him. Never did I think that I would get to see Miles this vulnerable. 

"Good luck catching me," I stick out my tongue like a five-year-old child, enjoying myself way too much. "Oh trust me I will catch you, and you will be very sorry when I do." 

"You mean if you do," I say as I watch him trying to take his first steps on the ice, like a baby trying to walk for the first time. Three steps are all he manages to take before he loses all the balance he has and falls on his back, making me laugh even harder as I skate back to him. "Are you alright?" I ask, still laughing. He doesn't move his body, just his eyes to look at me for a second before he reaches for my arm and drags me down with him, making me fall on my face beside him. "Aw, Miles, that hurt why would you do that?" 

"For the same reason you forced me in here and made me fall and humiliate myself in front of hundreds of people." he's the one laughing now and I can't help but tune in to his laughter. "I'm good at everything I do, but I've never skated before so don't you hold this fall of mine on me," he says still laughing. But his words make me think about his family again, how little I know about them. What parents don't take their kids skating at least once in their life? "Didn't your parents take you skating with your siblings? If you have any siblings of course" his laughter turns into silence timidly. "No they didn't," he says after a moment of silence as if he had to think his answer through. I'm trying to be careful because this really doesn't feel like the safe territory right now but I just have to continue now that I've started it, It is my chance now. "Do you have any siblings?" I ask as I try to look into his eyes, but he has turned them to the stars of the dark night sky. "No, I don't" 

"How are your relationship with your parents?" I continue, but my only answer is a long silence. "You know I would really like to meet them someday," is the last thing I manage to say before Miles gets up really fast, grabs on to a penguin he finds dumped beside him and makes his way out of the rink. I get up and follow him. "Where are you going?" I ask. The expression on his face tells me that he really did not like our conversation and that it made him frustrated. "Home," he answers while dumping his skating shoes to the ground and replacing them with his own without looking at me. "Why? We just got here" I grab a hold of his arm in an attempt to make him calm down but he brushes me off. "I think you've had enough of your fun tonight, Nova," is the last thing he says to me before he leaves, living me standing there still in my skating shoes watching him get into a taxi and drive off. Our night is officially ruined.