Too Keen For Me

Chapter 31: Don't Be Daft

Miles yawned as he looked out his hotel room window. The foggy pollution of Beijing held the city in a vice grip. He never thought he would ever see China in his lifetime. Growing up in Maine, China seemed like some place too far, but here he was and he fell in love with the food and the people almost overnight. He stared out into the city and tried to memorize the scene before him like he did with every city he went to.

He thought about his sold-out show last night. There was such electricity in the air. Out of this entire tour, the Beijing show had to be one of the best for so many reasons.

He couldn't believe that his world tour was almost over. Just a little more than a week, he would go back to the USA. He had been traveling for months, he almost forgot what it felt like not to sleep in a hotel or have a home cooked meal. He was looking forward to his own bed and his own place, ready to take a breather.

Someone stirred in his bed, causing him to look back at the sleeping girl with her white hair matching the sheets. He didn't think things would get so heated last night after his show. But then again, he didn't think that she would follow him to China either, but here she was.

Miles knew that once she woke up, there would be some hard conversations to have such as if they were dating. The thing was, Miles didn't want to date Izzy even though he had spent weeks with her. He still thought about Isla too much even though she had yet to respond to any message he sent for the last three months. Izzy was a distraction from the gaping hole in his heart Isla left.

Miles ran his hands through his hair as he tried to pull his thoughts together. His hands shook as he felt a flare up coming on. He needed to get out of this hotel room to clear his mind before he melted into a puddle.

He slipped on his shoes and grabbed his key card in silence.

"Miles?" Izzy's voice rang out as her doe eyes looked over at him just before he walked out of the room.

Miles stopped in mid-walk as his heart sped up. There was a reason he wanted to slip out before she woke. He didn't want to be in the same room as her until he sorted things out.

"Where are you going?" she asked as her voice cracked, still waking up.

"I'm going for a run, then I'll get breakfast for us. How about that?" he asked as he put his hand on the gold door handle.

She smiled at him, happy with his response. "Sounds good to me."

Miles nodded as he walked out of the hotel room, feeling his phone buzz. Pulling it out of his pocket and saw Everly texted him back from the last message he sent a day ago. He couldn't help but jump for joy. This was one step towards finding out about Isla.

"Hey, how are you? How's the tour?" The text read.

He smiled as he responded quickly. "It has been a wild ride but I'm looking forward to getting back to Redding."

"I don't think I've ever heard someone say that before," she texted back instantly.

He chuckled as he got into the lavish elevator. Same old Everly, same old sass. "Well, Everly, Redding is one of the sunniest places in the US. I miss that and most of all, I miss Isla. How is she?"

"She's fine. She misses you still, you need to text her," she texted back simply.

The thing was, he had tried. Many times, but all of his messages were left unread. How could she miss him if she wasn't even reading his messages?

Three young kids walked into the elevator as they continued to talk to one another in Chinese, unaware who they passed.

Miles walked out into the lobby of the hotel, staring at his phone as if his life depended on it. Dizziness washed over him and he plopped down into the closest seat he could find to recover from his unsteadiness.

He placed his head in his hands, taking deep breaths. His symptoms were terrible the last few days, but when he talked about it with Rodger, he brushed it off like it was nothing. Rodger wanted him to finish the tour, but it was almost too hard to manage.

His leg bounced up and down as he tried to fight off the numbness. Silently, he stared at his phone, rereading the message Everly sent. As much as he wanted it to be that easy, he already tired that, time after time, but she hadn't gotten back to him. "I've tried."

"She's getting a new phone. Have you tried her Instagram?"

Now it was making sense why she hadn't texted him. He wondered why she got a phone, hoping he wasn't the reason for it. Maybe Everly was wrong, Maybe Isla wanted distance from him. "Thanks. Enough about Isla, how have you been?"

"I've been good. School is coming to an end, so that's exciting."

"That's exciting! Congrats. I'll have to take you out for ice cream when I get back. So tell me, is Redding finally warm?"

"Too warm if you ask me. You left just at the right time."

Miles smiled slightly. The text was a slap in the face, but Everly didn't mean it that way. He didn't leave at the right time; he left at the wrong time for so many reasons. He should have stayed or at least talked to Isla sooner. But now he was just spending his nights in random hotels, only thinking of her. He just wanted to go back to Redding.

"Anyhow, I'm getting ready for bed. I'll talk to you tomorrow?"

Miles nodded as he stood up from his chair. He had to get going too. "Sounds good. Have a good night."

"And you too!"

<><><><>

I looked out the window of Tristen's car in silence as we drove home from getting groceries. My gaze switched to Tristen. "You know what Everly told me last night?"

"What?" he asked, turning down the radio.

"That I should reach out to Miles." After his long world tour, he would return soon and I wanted to know if he would back to Redding.

"Are you?" Tristen asked.

I shrugged. "I'm afraid."

Tristen gave a tired sigh. "And here we go with fear. Remember fear is nothing more than a state of mind. You can get out of it."

"Speak for yourself," I snapped at him.

"So what if you text him and he doesn't text you back? At least you know."

I pouted. "But that's my fear. I don't want to know if he truly moved on."

"And you rather just drive yourself mad? Isla, this is on your mind always. Your fate is just hanging around like a flag outside. It is time to take that flag and wave it in the pattern you want it to go, not because of the wind forces it but because you made it."

I nodded. That was easier said than done.

"Promise me that tonight, you'll text him. Reach out to him."

"Fine." I pulled out my new iPhone and went to social media.

I pulled up his page and frowned as I saw he posted a photo of himself on stage. It wasn't that it bothered me, but in the corner of the stage was Izzy. I didn't think Izzy was a fan of his music. I wondered if he invited her along. Pushing the worry from my mind, I quickly sent him a direct message. "Hey."

Maybe it should have written more, but if I thought about it any longer, I would have not sent him anything. This was better than nothing.

I turned to Tristen and sighed, feeling like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. "Thank you," I said to Tristen.

He nodded with a smile. "I knew you would feel better after the text."

I stared at my phone as thoughts consumed me. Would he even see my message? Would he want to respond? What if he didn't want to. What if he was about to move on and I messed up his plans.