Milo the Halfling: Part Two (special preview)

As strange as it started, you had been going on dates with Milo for a while now. While his initial behaviour towards you had been chilly and guarded, he had opened up more upon his confession. The two of you were being extremely cautious, of course, you were still coworkers. You had both agreed during that first date to keep it casual and see how things went. Which was proving to be a much harder task, because now that you could both be comfortable, you found yourselves to be highly compatible.

The hiring process though was still a struggle, you both had different ways of going about the process. Milo was much more rigid, while you still believed in that gut feeling. Working together despite this was going much better than before. Now that he wasn’t defensive about his feelings, he was more willing to work closely with you.

“We’ll have that big meeting at the end of the month with those from corporate. I would really love to get ahead of schedule to impress them. Especially since this is one of their smaller offices.” Milo was busy fussing over the copier, trying to make duplicates of your notes just so he could have them on hand. You came up behind him, bending down just enough to kiss his ear. He swatted like he had just been bit by a mosquito.

“What are you doing?” He hissed. “What if someone saw us?”

“You just looked so nice, I couldn’t help it.” You stood back erect and giggled. “Your face is all red.”

Milo whipped around, yanking papers from the mouth of the copier. “We talked about this. We have to be careful around the office. You can kiss whatever looks nice when we’re alone.”

You raised your eyebrows and bit back what would be an evil grin.

Milo glared knowingly at you. “Oh shut up.”

“I’ll behave, I promise. I’m just excited today, is all.” Today was your birthday, and since you weren’t near home with your friends, Milo had agreed to a special treat that evening. What it was he was keeping a tightly kept secret. The more he refused to tell, the more your excitement bubbled.

“Ugh yes, happy birthday,” he sighed. “Don’t put your head in clouds where I can’t reach. I may fail your expectations.”

“I’ve never had a date on my birthday, so it’s already really special for me.” I sat back down at the table, checking emails from the main office. “Have you ever had a date on your birthday?”

Milo finished at the copy machine and sat down to organize the papers in his special file. “Why ask such a thing?”

“Curiosity.” You leaned over towards him. “I’d like to know who tamed the wild Mr. Goodbody before me.”

Milo scoffed then took a quick look around, making sure no one was near. “I wouldn’t call it tamed. Tolerated mostly.”

“I can see that,” you said with a smirk.

He gave you a sharp warning look. “I’m not exactly a charming romantic. I’m barely cuddly. Well, you’ve met me.”

You watch him closely, noticing the way he was keeping his hands busy and his eyes averted. “Well, one of us has to be the sane one.”

Milo’s smile turns soft. “Well, that is true. You’re about as rigid as an eclair.”

He sighed, laying his paper down and smoothing his palms along the table. “I dated this guy for a long time, yes we had many birthday dates. But it ended because he thought I valued my job more than him.”

He stood up from the table. “And that’s the story of that.”

“Didn’t mean to poke a sore spot,” you murmured.

“Not at all. It was a long time ago. I’ll be right back, I’m going to get the mail to make sure that letter came.”

He left, leaving you to finish up your part of the presentation you’d be showing to the higher ups. As you’re trying to find oen of the papers he copied, you saw that within his notes were sketches. You pulled out the notebook where he had been drawing in the margins. The art was beautiful, strikingly so. But every sketch was you.