Page 21 of Milo
“He’d enjoy that.”
“He won’t recognize me.” She laughs. “But that’s okay. I wasn’t Izzy when he knew me. I’ve only been the real me for a handful of years. Thanks to this one.” She nods up to Clay.
Clay’s cheeks go pink. “You give me way too much credit.”
“Not at all. You asked me to be your assistant, and I moved out to New York City so fast I left tire marks on the road. Getting away from my dad finally gave me the courage to be me. I never would have left if you hadn’t of offered me the job of a lifetime.”
“That’s awesome.” I love how close these two are. “I should let you go. Have an amazing day, you two!”
“You too, dear,” Izzy says.
“Have a good day, Milo,” Clay says and my insides get all fluttery. I wave and walk backwards into my apartment, making Izzy laugh.
“He’s totally gone for you,” Izzy stage whispers. I don’t even care because it’s totally true.
I don’t even knowwhere the workday went. It was whorl of everything from restocking to customers to wrapping to a few quick doodles for sweet kids being good for their parents. Benjamin, the owner, Rory, and Logan, all lugged a Christmas tree inside and decorated it for Santa tomorrow. They even have a nice throne they set out and placed fake presents around. The whole scene is like a fairytale to me. Little Milo kept coming tothe surface, and I had to keep pushing him down. In all, it was a good day.
“Soooooo,” Rory starts. “Where are you going on your date tonight?”
“Dunno. Clay’s in charge of it and I’m excited to see what he comes up with.”
“Same. I’m so excited for you I could crawl up the damn Christmas tree we just put up.”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself. We’re… okay, we’re not exactly taking things slow, but we are?” He’s being so gentle with me.
“You’re going at your own pace. Nothing wrong with that.” Rory’s eyes flick to the clock on the wall. “And now you need to go get ready. Shoo. I’ll see you tomorrow and you’ll tell me alllllll about it.”
“Later!” I clock out and rush out the door with Rory giggling behind me.
I have to check myself a couple of times because I keep speeding. I practically fly into my apartment. There’s plenty of time before Clay comes over, but I want to utilize every part of my time before he collects me. I need to look presentable. First, a shower and shave. Then I have to tame my hair. Most days it’s unruly and I don’t mind it, but I’d like to style it into something nicer for Clay.
I stare at myself in the mirror. I have my mother’s blue eyes and hair. Sometimes when it’s just me and my brother, he’ll look at me and I know he’s seeing mom. She always had long, pretty bouncy curls. Mine are looser. I follow instructions Rory gave me months ago about fixing my hair into a faux bedhead look, but it doesn’t feel right. Not me. I shake my head and fling my hair around, making myself dizzy. When I look in the mirror again, I laugh. My hair has way too much volume now. I pat it down with a bit of water and it’s the real me, not Milo trying too hard. I think Clay will appreciate that the most.
I dress in a pair of dark slacks and a deep blue long-sleeved button-up shirt that makes my eyes pop. I pull on cute socks with ruffles on the ankle. The ruffles won’t show, but I’ll know they’re there, which makes me smile.
As I’m back to messing with my hair, the knock comes to my door. I rush to open it and suck in a breath.
“We match!” I laugh as I take in the same exact shade of shirt I’m wearing. I hold out my arm, and he does the same.
“We do.” He chuckles. “Should one of us change?”
“No! Absolutely not.” I grab my keys and lock up. “I like matching.”
“I do too. It’s like we’ve claimed each other.”
“We totally have.” I bounce on my toes. I don’t own any kind of fancy shoe so my blue Converse All-Stars were the only choice I had to go with the outfit. “Oh, wait! We need to look more festive, though.” I unlock my door and rush inside to grab the cosmetic-grade glitter gel I bought in November. “Everything is better with glitter.” I unscrew the lid and plop a dollop on my cheek and rub it in.
Clay’s eyes have that twinkle again. He doesn’t say anything, just scoops out a bit and pats it on my nose, then rubs the rest from his fingers onto his own cheeks. “I like the way you think.”
“I’m a good thinker most of the time. And glitter.” I wiggle the small tub of it. “Is amazing.” I toss it back on my couch and relock my door. “Now we’re ready for anything.”
Clay leads me out of the building and to his truck. Thankfully, he has side steps because my short ass can’t hop that high. I would ask him to help me up, but that’s more of a Little Milo thing. Big Milo needs to get into the truck on his own. I launch myself into the seat. Luckily, Clay didn’t watch me struggle. Big Milo might have died of embarrassment, but not with my trusty glitter. I’m buckled in before Clay gets to his side.
“So, where are we going?” I ask as innocently as I can while Clay gets the truck backed up and turned around for our adventure.
He chuckles. “I figured you’re not a dinner date kinda guy.”
“I love food.”
