AllFreeNovel
Share Us
As soon as we got to Milo’s, he brought out two glasses and his best whiskey, and poured generous drinks. I downed mine in one gulp, and thanked him when he poured another.
“You look like a degenerate,” he said, instead of “you’re welcome.”
Milo’s timid greyhound made his way over to give me a diffident greeting. He was warmer with Milo, licking his hand and accepting a series of strokes along his sleek, black frame before he disappeared again. We settled back on the two low, weathered leather sofas beside Milo’s specially sourced 17th century fireplace. Pretentious bastard. His furnishings alone probably cost more than my apartment, and that wasn’t including the room of antique stringed instruments housed just beyond his home dungeon. Still not enough reason to punch him.
“I’m sorry,” I said again. “I’m really—”
He held up a hand to silence my apologies. “I get it. She fucked you up. It happens.”
I wanted to argue and say he didn’t understand, but he understood.
“I liked her,” I said, morose, a little drunk already. I put down my glass. “She was different. But, you know, in the end she was the same. Crazy female.”
He let this blanket statement go. More than any of us, he was plagued by crazy females attracted to his reputation, his musical talent, his famous violin-making family name. “So that’s it?” he said after a pause. “You’re going to let her go? Move on?”
I shrugged. “What choice do I have? She has ‘lots to do at work.’ She has gravitational waves to measure. Time machines to build, so she can travel to exploding stars.” I waved a hand. “Whatever. Good for her.”
Milo lifted his glass. “Good for her. You’ve got plenty of other women you can play with.”
“Yeah.”
“And if Ella wants, she can keep playing at The Gallery with me.”
Those words made me see red. Drunk red.No, man, you already punched him once. Twice? You can’t punch him again.I picked up my second glass of whiskey and drained it, and plunked it down on Milo’s fucking coffee table.
“Whatever,” I choked out. “I don’t fucking care.”
He grinned, a sadistic, cold, smartass smirk. “I was kidding, Dev. I’m afraid of her. She broke up with your ass tonight, and she wasn’t even nice about it. She did it in front of all your friends. Scary bitch.”
“Yeah, scary bitch,” I said without spirit. “You should stay away from her.”
“I will.”
We sat in silence for a while. I studied the neo-Roman fireplace, carved with faux columns and graduated lines. It made me think of history and time, which made me think of Ella. “Do you think she made it home?” I asked.
Milo pursed his lips. “I’m sure Fort and Juliet got her settled in. She’ll be fine.”
“Yeah. She’ll be fine.”
He stretched out his legs, still sipping his first drink. “Hey, Dev. Remember when Fort had to take a break from The Gallery?”
“You mean when you banned him for six months?”
“Yeah, when I banned him. It helped him figure out a lot of things. Maybe you should take a break, too.”
I studied him. “Are you banning me?”
“Probably. I don’t think you should come back right away.” He looked at his fingernails, which he kept closely manicured for playing the violin. “You should take some time to think. It helped Fort get some distance, helped him figure his shit out.”
I shook my head. “That won’t work for me. We’re not going to end up together like Fort and Juliet. Ella isn’t interested, for real.”
“Just something to think about. Hey, you want to sleep here tonight? Are you flying tomorrow?”
“Monday,” I said.
He stood and went back to the bar. “Feel like getting plastered, then? We’re going to be sore tomorrow, anyway. A hangover won’t make things any worse.”
“I haven’t been dead drunk in forever,” I said.
