Miles apart (Man × Man) ✔

6) c h a s e d

The sun had set, when Ash pedalled home from Brandon's. It had rained and the blowing wind chilled his face, sobering him up. He was trying to decide if it was too late to call Miles and if he would only get angrier after being woken up to a drunk call in the small hours. 

At the end of the day, he didn't have to make that decision, when the weariness got the best of him. As soon as Ash made it inside his apartment, he kicked off his boots and slumped face down on his bed. Then he was already fast asleep. 

In the morning, when Ash woke up with an aching head and stiff neck, he didn't call or text Miles immediately. Instead he took a shower to clear the fog from his mind, but the haywire temperature control only gave him scalding hot or ice cold water and all it managed to do was put him in a mood.

Ash had overslept, so he didn't have time for breakfast before he had to cycle to work. Javier wasn't in, so he had no one to talk to or to distract him from thinking about Miles. Ash tried to tell himself it didn't matter, that he simply didn't care all that much about him. Yet, once he came scary close to screwing up a programming for an important software, he decided to stop lying to himself. 

All he needed to do was send one text and move on with his day. It would be a piece of cake once he'd get himself to send that damn text. And so, at lunch break, Ash picked up his phone and typed: "I was out of line yesterday, I didn't mean to h" then he deleted what he had written and wrote: "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said those things to you. Can we try again?" 

Ash suppressed an urge to write it all over again and just pressed send before he could change his mind. Then he shut his phone, hoping there would be a text from Miles waiting for him once he got off from work.

It soon turned out that having sent the text didn't help Ash move on with his day, but instead filled his mind with different anxieties. He kept wondering whether Miles was going to answer or not, and if he did, what he would say.

Miles didn't strike Ash as an unforgiving kind of guy, but then again they barely knew each other. Ash tried to convince himself all over again that he didn't care, because he wasn't the type of guy who worried over that kind of things. But then again, the normal rules didn't seem to apply on Miles. What was it about him that made him so impossible to forget?

Whatever it was, it was starting to piss Ash off, because he needed to get the programming done by the end of the day. He didn't have time to think about Miles, he couldn't afford to do so at the expense of his job.

After work Miles still hadn't answered, but Ash decided it was better to wait than to bombard him with more messages. He got on his bicycle and started pedalling, until his calves burned and his shirt stuck to his sweaty chest. Ash didn't feel like going home yet, so he drove past it and wandered aimlessly around the city.

As he neared the richer side of the city, the buildings got higher, the windows wider and the overall streetscape tidier. It was the type of neighborhood where you could walk alone at night, not having to look over your shoulder in the fear of muggers or getting assaulted.

Ash didn't go there often, because the sight of those fancy houses only made him angry. Except, that day other thoughts overpowered his anger: did Miles live in one of them? And if he did, was it really such a terrible thing?

~~~

Ash wasn't one pining after guys. He wasn't the kind of guy who called or texted multiple times to reach someone who he might or might not be into. His mom had told it to him often enough that he could quote her even in his sleep: "Don't chase after love, let it come to you when the time is right." 

Ash didn't chase after anyone, he didn't seek love just the sake of love. It had always been that way and he was certain it would always stay like that. Yet, there he was, staring at his phone on Friday evening, his thumb hovering on top of the send button.

Miles still hadn't answered Ash's text and he was starting to get frustrated. Ash contemplated whether he should just give up and move on, but, to his dismay, he couldn't do so. 

He had a feeling that Miles was making him stew in his own juice, and the worst of it was that Ash couldn't really blame him. He hadn't changed his mind about the rich, but he knew he had been out of line and that he couldn't leave things with Miles like that.

Finally Ash got tired of ruminating over it and picked up his phone. If Miles wasn't going to answer his text, Ash was damned if he didn't at least try to call him. But that was as far as he could go, he had his pride after all.

"Hi." Miles picked up after a few beeps.

"Hi." Ash greeted him, trying to ignore the fluttering sensation he got in his stomach just by hearing Miles' voice. "You didn't answer my text."

"I know. I was busy." Miles sighed.

"So, do you think you're too busy to see me again?" Ash inquired, keeping his voice light. He sank to the kitchen chair, already preparing himself for rejection. 

"I don't know." Despite the noncommittal words, Miles sounded cheerier. More like his usual sunny self. Then he added: "You can come over, if my fancy mansion isn't too much for you to handle."

~~~

It's my birthday today. :)