“You understand why I have to do this, right?”
“Yes,” he says. “Of course.”
She studies his expression for a moment too long, and he has the sudden urge to leave. Miles checks his watch—nine thirty a.m.
“I’m heading to the bank,” he announces.
“Why?”
“Paying off the inn’s loans with my savings. Talked to my mom about it last night, and after the most exhausting argument, she finally agreed to let me do it.”
It’s not a sustainable set-up, though, and he agreed with Mom when she said that. If the inn’s going to keep running, they can’t rely on his savings.
“Can you pass by Matthew’s?” Gabby asks. “I was going to send someone else, but if you’re going, might as well pick up the boxes for the cafe.”
“…Uh.”
“Will that be okay?”
“Yeah. Sure, no problem.”
Matthew, his ex-boyfriend. He hasn’t seen him in a while, and even if they weren’t one of those exes who couldn’t stand each other, he’s sure it’ll still be awkward. Gabby talks about him sometimes, and she did mention he’s seeing someone from their old school. He never actually asked who. The cafe he owned downtown, Brown Sugar, supplied baked goods for their inn’s booth cafe. That was the set-up they had, since it was easier than hiring a pastry chef. The inn’s staff regularly drove downtown to get boxes from Brown Sugar, and on some days, Matthew himself delivered them himself.
“Thanks,” Gabby says. “He’s got six boxes ready for pickup.”
Miles goes through the articles about the band’s break-up as he’s walking to his car.
The actual announcement from their official accounts is vague, saying they’ve decided, as a group, to go their separate ways. They’re going to perform at their remaining gigs, and a farewell concert is in the works.
There were rumors about it for months, but he didn’t think it was actually going to happen.
Sighing, Miles leans against the door of his car and scrolls through social media. The band’s trending, and there’s a photo going around from when the band just started. They’re younger, a bit more boyish, even if it was only five years ago.
Theo Reid, their charismatic lead singer, is holding their debut album up. He has an arm around Calvin’s shoulder, who’s smiling rather awkwardly at the camera. Then there’s Chase Manning, the band’s handsome bassist who has a reputation for being hot-headed. Lastly, laid-back drummer Gil Ramos has his head cocked to the side as he smirks at the camera.
Miles’s artwork is on the album cover. It’s a painting of all four band members in a garage, at the angle of a bird’s-eye view, like most of Miles’s paintings. The garage is messy and the band’s playing on their instruments, with Theo holding a mic. The colors are vibrant and there are a lot of details in it, down to a highschool yearbook that’s laying on the floor. Miles had based it off a bunch of photos their management had sent him.
He reads through the other posts. There’s a lot of speculation onsocial media about what’s happened. Some say it was Theo’s decision to go on a solo career, while others say it’s because of Chase’s hot-headedness. There’s even a comment about how Theo and Calvin must have broken up. The rumor that the two are boyfriends trends a lot, but has never been confirmed. Miles has always assumed it was just the fans putting more meaning into things, because if they have been together all these years, they probably would have confirmed it by now. Five years is a long time to hide a relationship.
“Damn it.” He was excited for more songs from them, like he always was. Deciding that he’s punished himself enough, Miles puts his phone away.
Maybe Gabby was right, though. The timing of Calvin’s stay in their inn matched perfectly with the band’s announcement. It’s no secret that Calvin’s a private person, and he can see why he chose a quiet town like Ridgeford to unwind in.
Well, fuck. Having someone from the inn he’s retreating to badgering him like Miles did must have sucked. Miles grimaces at himself—that’s not going to happen again. He’s definitely going to back off now, maybe go in the opposite direction the next time he sees him.
***
Miles halts at a red light and there’s a small group of teenagers on the curb, bouncing on their feet and circling around someone. Miles squints, wondering if it’s a celebrity, and…
Yeah. That’s Calvin, with his sunglasses on and pulling his ballcap down, as if that would help him out at this point.
His lips are a flat line and he nods as the teenagers ask for one selfie after another. Across the street, several other people are pointing at Calvin. He’s drawing a small crowd. Miles’s window is open so he can hear how they fuss over him, and someone asks if the other band members are in town, too. His car’s so close to them that Calvin would see him if he weren’t so preoccupied.
Miles knows how this is going to go. They’ve had a few celebrities stay at the inn before. After the first person braves it and asks for a photo, more people will notice, and then the celebrity will soon have a hard time shaking them off. Calvin’s alone, and Gabby did say he never turns people down—Miles can already tell he’s going to be here for a long while.
Poor guy doesn’t deserve this, especially on this day. For a moment, Miles debates helping him out. He can get his attention and ask if he wants a ride.
The light turns green and Miles decides against it, because this really isn’t any of his business.
