Jellyfish

24. The Beginning

I really liked riding to work with Oliver, even if I wasn't always in the mood for him. Oliver's bright attitude was both refreshing and ungodly in the morning, making my days far less agonizing than they had been. He'd taken the news of our new situation with a smile and small celebration, which was relieving as I'd worried he wouldn't want me in his workplace. I should've known better though; Oliver wasn't that kind of person. He was happy to commute with me and happier to have someone to chatter to throughout the day. I didn't blame him for the excitement; our job was pretty boring. It was a lot of filing papers and entering data and just overall trying not to fall asleep. I both loved and hated it, but I couldn't deny this was a good change. As of a week ago, I was no longer working at the club or the shitty craft store. For the first time in a long time, I felt a sense of enjoyment and accomplishment and I was reveling in it.

"Hey," Oliver called from his desk where he'd been doing nothing but playing computer games for the last twenty minutes. No one ever really came to our corner, so more often than not, Oliver was fucking around instead of working.

"Yeah?" I actually was working because I really wanted to keep this job.

"Miles' is coming."

Confused, I gave the office a quick scan earning a snort from Oliver.

"No, he just emailed me to let him in. Thought I'd warn you."

"Thanks, I guess," I answered, checking my watch and realizing that it was indeed time for my lunch break. It's not like Miles had anything better to do, so he usually came to visit me when he got bored.

He greeted me with a tight hug, plopping down on my lap and handing me a bag of the stupid off brand chips I liked. "Hello, my dear tiny boyfriend," he cooed. "I've brought you snacks to fatten you up."

I scoffed at that. I may be thin, but at least I was taller than he was.

"Thanks, Miles. What else is in the bag?" I asked, popping open the chips when I realized I was starving.

"Well, I have two sandwiches, some cold tea, and a bag of those gross lemon chips for Winter," he said.

Miles and Frankie had finally, properly, met my brother last month and they got along a lot better than I thought they would. They'd actually been texting him which I thought was super weird, but hey, at least they got along. I took the chips and stored them in my desk for when we'd leave later giving Miles my full attention for now. He always had a lot to say and today he had come straight from volunteering, so he'd immediately launched into fawning over the kids there. One of the many things I loved about Miles was his heart. He really did have such a love for humanity, and he did so much that I never even realized we could. A few weeks ago, he'd taken me to a soup kitchen with him and we spent the day serving meals and hearing stories. It had been such an eye-opening experience and I felt a true sense of satisfaction despite how tired I had been. Since then, I had a new sort of view on my boyfriend because, like all people, there were so many different sides to him.

There was the Miles who was funny. The one who liked to make jokes- that sucked- and play pranks- that also sucked. There was the Miles who demanded affection and would not accept no for an answer. This one was slightly irritating, always wrapping himself around one of us and squeezing to his heart's content. There was the sad Miles, the one who he didn't let out very often because he didn't like him. I'd only seen it a few times, but there was still some lingering resentment inside him. He'd had an interesting life, but he was doing his best not to let it get him down, something I truly admired about him. There was the Miles who volunteered and passionately gave speeches in favor of helping the homeless. The one who sat beside dying kids for hours just to make them smile. He was a million different things to explore in the best of ways and I couldn't wait. Honestly, it scared me how much I loved these boys because that was so foreign to me, and yes, I meant love.