Now that Leo had mentioned it, Elio recalled that Milo had very nice lips. And he couldn’t help but wonder if Milo might have noticed him in that way too. Elio had yet to detect any kind of awareness or interest in anything but work from Milo. Was that because he was a virgin and indifferent or was Milo put off by all the tattoos and piercings?
Each one was an act of rebellion and a means of keeping people out of Elio’s sphere, but what if they repelled the one person hemightwant to be close to? Shaking his head, Elio cast the whole matter aside. He didn’t come to Manhattan to woo Milo Ashby or get his heart broken. He had come too far and achieved too much to go down like his brothers. Elio had come to push the boundaries of time and physics and to achieve the impossible.
He would let lesser men fret over the problem of love.
Six
The following Friday, Milo was tickled at how much his life had changed—for the better—since he had been liberated from Hector’s department and assigned to work with Elio. He practically skipped down the stairs at 23rd Street to catch the train home, feeling lighter than he had in years. Thanks to his new assignment, Milo no longer had to go toanyof the department meetings and only answered to Elio. He rarely crossed paths with any of the Mean Guys throughout the week.
Elio’s office was next to the back stairwell, meaning that Milo could enter Starlight through the 21st Street entrance and bypass the lounge all together. He came and went as he pleased and was already spoiled by the comfort and luxury of Elio’s office. There was so much room to spread out and work, a swanky private bathroom, and an assistant named Seth had been assigned to them. The institute was excited about their work on P versus NPand wanted them to focus solely on thatwhile Seth handled office errands, kept the French press full of fresh coffee, and made sure they were well-fed.
According to Elio, that was how physicists of their caliber were supposed to be treated at privately-funded institutes like Starlight. Ironically, what was most refreshing was the atmosphere in their office! For the first time in Milo’s academic and professional career, he was treated like an equal and regularly deferred to. Instead of a student, assistant, intern, fellow, or a loser, Milo was treated more like a supervisor while Elio stormed around the building and made sure they were left alone.
Not that Elio wasn’t carrying his weight with the work. He came inalmostevery day and stayed for hours at a time. His feedback was often positive and encouraging and Elio made some crucial observations about polynomial time that had given Milo several ideas.
Yes, he was prone to pacing with his tennis balls and would tune Milo out as he bounced, juggled, and tossed them, mumbling to himself. And Elio would leave with his skateboard whenever the spirit moved him because it was a straight shot to the Pier 62 Skatepark. One never knew if or when Elio would return or what his mood might be like the next time he blew into the office.
But all of that was easily forgivable because Milo knew that it could beso much worse. Plus, he was doing real work and he was completely engrossed with the project. Milo walked around with his head in a theoretical cloud, pondering quadratic and linear time. He rarely thought about Brad or the Mean Guys and wasn’t a stressed-out wreck when he rode the train home, and he no longer bothered to stake out the Olympia before crossing the street.
Milo hovered around the mailboxes in the lobby, reading his dad’s King Arthur catalog and made small talk with the doormenbut eventually gave up and took the elevator to the 6th floor. He listened in the hallway but 6A was silent.
His mother’s place, on the other hand…
“Milo!” Luna flew at him as soon as he let himself in and Milo laughed as he caught her and spun.
“How was practice?” he asked, setting her down and giving her a twirl.
She was still in her leotard and sweatpants but she had traded her slippers for Converse and they made funny squeaking sounds on the marble. “It was fine. Dad and I got ice cream on the way home.”
“Nice!” Milo grabbed her wrists and she grabbed his before he swung her up and around his back. Her knees hugged his waist and he gave her a boost up so they were securely under his armpits.
“I missed you.” Luna squeezed his neck and kissed his hair, making Milo sigh. It was his absolute favorite feeling in the world and she could make just about anything better or bearable.
“I missed you too.” He gave her arm a kiss and headed into the kitchen. “Hey, Mom!” he called when he found her in the pantry. “Where’re the dads?”
There were only two pizza boxes, signaling that Riley was not joining them. There would be four if he was coming.
Claire leaned out and passed him a bottle of his favorite juice. “I thought they could use a date night so I borrowed Luna and we’re having a sleepover.”
She often “borrowed” Luna so Giles and Riley could have 8B to themselves. The arrangement was perfect for Claire because she got to enjoy all the perks of being a girl mom without having to birth another child or all the real responsibilities of parenthood.
“Ooh! Can I stay too?” Milo begged playfully and Luna pressed her hands together, giggling.
“I don’t know…” Claire tapped her chin. “You two Gremlins can be handfuls,” she teased, then reached around Milo and poked Luna in the ribs, making her squirm.
Milo had his own room in 6C but they usually made a giant tent in the living room when Luna stayed the night with bed sheets and a nest made of quilts and pillows. They would eat pizza and snacks and watch movies until they passed out and Claire would run out for donuts in the morning.
“I’ll get the fairy lights!” Luna said, wiggling down Milo’s back and racing from the kitchen.
“Best week ever,” Milo declared as he poured himself a glass of juice.
“Things are going well with Elio, I take it,” Claire said and Milo hummed enthusiastically as he drank.
“Really well. He’s a lot easier to get along with than I expected. It’s like we just…clicked.”
“Huh!” She planted a hand on her hip and her tongue pushed against the inside of her cheek.
“Don’t do that,” Milo said as he pointed at her. “Whatever it is you’re planning, I don’t like it.”
