Cecily learns more about MIles as he is drafted to give a speech to honor his late father.
PART IV - THE SPEECH
Miles has had a busy week. He's been drafted as lead designer on a new project that the company wants to be released within three years, which is a tight deadline for video game development.
The pitch was vague so there's a lot of flexibility on the creative front, but Miles will have to collaborate with a team of programmers and concept artists to hammer out a presentation due soon.
With a beleaguered sigh, he sets his work case on a table right near the door and one of Cecily's roses catches his eye, which makes him feel just a little bit better. It makes the stress of the day ease ever so slightly.
What brings it back is the ringtone in his pocket, flashing his sister's name on the caller ID.
"What's up Maddie?" he answers, only slightly confused as to why she is calling because he fulfilled his obligatory family dinner with her last weekend.
"I was just calling to check to make sure you are ready for tomorrow?"
Miles's brain goes blank.
His silence is telling.
"Miles Piper I cannot believe that you've already forgotten!" Madison starts up in a frustrated voice.
Miles racks his brain, what did he forget??
"The banquet featuring Dad? You are supposed to give a speech!"
He now remembers why he forgot. The prospect was so awful–being in front of people, talking, especially about his father–that he straight up rejected the news when Madison told him after dinner last Saturday.
Did past-Miles even agree to give a speech? If past-Miles did, he's a dirty traitor putting present-Miles on the spot like this. Past-Miles doesn't have much regard for future-Miles.
"Are you sure I agreed to give a speech?" Miles asks dubiously, "Or did you just go ahead and decide for me like usual when it comes to these things?"
His sister huffs, "Someone has to take care of you. You would walk out of the door without your head if it wasn't attached to your neck. Anyway, you nodded and mumbled something that sounded like 'sure' when I asked you."
Miles doubts he would have done that.
"Can I cancel?"
"Absolutely not! Do you want me to tell Ash Calhoun the day before the banquet that Lucas Piper's eldest son refuses to honor him?"
Well, when she puts it like that, it sounds bad and no one wants to disappoint the former Captain Hero.
Miles groans, "Ugh, fine, but for the record, I don't think I would have said I'd give a speech. You know me, Maddie, I hate talking to random people so why would I volunteer to talk in front of several?"
"I have no idea, Miles, you are the only one who knows your weird mind. Next time I will double-check and write it on your hand in permanent marker so you don't forget. It's tomorrow at the Isla Del Kashmire Pavilion Garden event space. It's at 2:00 pm. You can bring a date if your perfect girlfriend can be persuaded to come with you at the last minute. I have to go. See you then!"
Miles snatches up his work case, intending to bring it up to his drafting table. He'd be putting in some extra time this weekend to be ready for that presentation. He'd rather do that than go to a banquet.
He collapses on his sofa instead of going upstairs, suddenly exhausted.
From the day.
From the knowledge of having to prep a speech in addition.
His throat tightens with anxiety.
Then he realizes that if he calls Cecily now, he could ask her to go with him. He can see her again. That possibility alone makes the thought of tomorrow bearable.
Cecily had been busy with her own work so he hadn't seen her since that morning he left her apartment and hadn't gotten to ask her if she'd given more thought to his offer of moving in.
Thankfully, after a quick call, a lot of apologies for the inconvenience, and a promise to take her to the arcade, she agreed to go with him.
Miles grabs all the ingredients for a solo pot of spaghetti.
He's using his mother's recipe as the base but then adds to it as he had learned to make it taste better.
They'd only been really dating all of three weeks and he regretted that he waited so long to give her a call since it had been at least six months since she won the bid on him at the Bachelor Auction.
He also didn't want to push her if she wasn't ready to answer that question. She seemed to brush over the subject the first time he asked. He didn't want her to think he was weird. His sister clearly did.
Miles is having second and third thoughts as he walks out of his house with Cecily by his side.
"You know, we could just skip this whole thing..." he muses. He feels her hand on his shoulder in a touch of encouragement.
"Don't worry you will be over with it before you know it," she says, her voice is so calm and soothing he almost believes her. He is eternally thankful she dropped her weekend plans to go with him.
By her logic, the whole day would go by quickly and he wanted to savor their time together.
Could he convince her to just go back upstairs and lounge all day, playing video games?
That was a much nicer thought. He slips his arms around her, "I'd rather spend all day with you, alone."
She is well aware of his delay tactics but doesn't let him in on it. She teases him with a long kiss before she pulls away and invokes his least favorite word, "That would be lovely but, you already made a commitment."
She grabs his bicep and forcefully tugs at him to follow her, "Besides, I want to meet your family."
He can't help to think that's nothing to be excited about.
She sees his unsure expression and wonders why he has so many reservations. It just proves to her they still don't know each other that well.
Thirty minutes later they roll up to a beautifully landscaped area of Isla Del Kashmire with a building and a large gazebo. There are already people milling around the exterior. They are early as well, despite Miles's attempts to delay or cancel the entire thing.
An elegant blonde woman seems to recognize Miles and seems relieved he's shown up. She is surrounded by a pair of beautiful young adults that share some of her features. Cecily can only assume those are Miles's niece and nephew and this woman is his sister.
Miles introduces her, "This is Cecily Louis, my..."
"The perfect girlfriend!" his sister says with a mix of jovialness and underlying doubt. Cecily doesn't know what to do so she embraces the woman. Cecily is a hugger, her whole family is. She seems caught off guard but leans into it. "Oh my, you're so friendly!"
Miles can see his niblings exchange a clear knowing smirk about something having to do with it.
"Miles! It's been so long, dear!" he catches the voice of his sister-in-law as she comes around from the gardens, with his younger brother in tow. Mason looks like life has worn him down but also Mason works for the MBPD, his job is exponentially more stressful.
"Hello Geneva, I guess it has," Miles greets her and laughs apologetically. He's always gotten along well with her.
"You need to come over for dinner sometime," she throws out a casual invitation.
"Good luck with that, I only just got him over for dinner at my place," Madison laughs.
"If you let me cook dinner I'd be happy to come over," Miles offers.
Geneva smiles warmly and nods, "Pick a night and our kitchen is all yours!
Cecily, meanwhile takes everything in, trying to sort the relatives out. It's the drawback of Miles being so reserved in talking about them.
"That's Uncle Mason and his wife, Geneva," Miles's niece lends a helping hand in exploring the family tree.
"Is he Miles's older brother?"
"Younger," his nephew corrects.
"Wow he looks so much older than Miles," Cecily mumbles, trying not to be rude, just surprised.
They both chuckle, and the niece replies, "Well, Uncle Miles has no children and a pretty cushy job so I bet his wrinkles haven't set in hardcore yet. By the way, I'm Stacia and this is Xander, Mom forgot to introduce us."
"Nice to meet you," Cecily genuinely, properly greets them. They have very pretentious names.
"It's nice to meet you," Xander smirks, "Uncle Miles has never introduced any of his girlfriends to us before."
Girlfriends? As in...many?
She doesn't get a chance to ask about it because it's time for the event to start.
They take their seats in the garden in front of the gazebo. A distinguished older gentleman makes his way up to the stage and takes place behind a podium. He taps the microphone a few times and makes sure everyone is situated.
"Good afternoon everyone, I'm Ash Calhoun. Thank you all for joining me today for the Isla Del Kashmire's Heroes Banquet. It's wonderful we can all get together and recognize the hard work our team of officers have put into the community to keep it safe."
Cecily wasn't entirely sure what the event was, Miles mentioned it had something to do with his father, whom she knew nothing about as being a 'father' was 'family' and Miles didn't discuss them.
She knew who Ash Calhoun was though. He used to be the region's Captain Hero, so it made sense that he was an opening speaker at this sort of event.
Miles's sister, who Cecily still didn't know the name of, was sitting across the aisle from her, in rapt attention with her family. She hadn't seen the muscular man during introductions but could deduce since she was sitting next to him that he was her husband. They looked like a perfect family. Strong dad, a powerful mom, with smart and attractive kids.
Meanwhile, sitting next to her, is Miles who seems stressed and apprehensive as if he doesn't want to even be looked at.
Geneva has even taken notice, leaning toward them to whisper "Miles, dear, are you feeling sick?"
"He'd do anything to get out of speaking," they hear Mason grumble, calling his brother out for faking.
"Why didn't you offer to do the speech?" Miles is heard asking with the same grumble.
"Because I'm not the oldest son. Besides you can at least do this for him since you failed at everything else."
There's a deep, resentful silence that floats between them, and Geneva frowns at her husband. Cecily understands now why Miles isn't keen on talking about family; there is family backstory and drama she has no context of and it would take a while to unravel.
"Lucas Piper was one of the best Lieutenants in the force. His sacrifice in the line of duty will never be forgotten and no one could ever repay it. His eldest son, Miles, has offered to speak in his honor," They hear Ash say and that's Miles's cue to go on stage. His body rebels and refuses to move.
Everyone is waiting, finally, they hear a sharp hiss from his sister, "Miles! Get a move on!"
It's not so subtle.
Cecily feels bad he's being put on the spot like that.
Finally, after another long pause, he finally rises and begins to move forward. His face is like stone.
She reaches out and grabs his hand, gives it a squeeze, and whispers, "It'll be over soon enough. You can do it."
The stone breaks slightly and she catches a glimpse of something soft. Something thankful for her words.
Miles ascends to the stage, his palms feel sweaty, his breaths come short, and he avoids eye contact with everyone in the crowd before Ash gestures to him, "Miles Piper, everyone!"
There's some tepid applause as Miles offers a small wave, and feels hella awkward about it. Maybe he shouldn't have waved.
He clears his throat, "Um, I'm not the best at speeches so forgive me if it doesn't sound very grand..."
His eyes briefly meet Cecily's and feels his breathing even out. He takes a moment to inhale before continuing.
"My father, Lucas, was a real salt of the earth man who loved fiercely. He was so dedicated to his job. He was so brave and had a great zest for life that it inspired everyone around him to try and live up to and share in that enthusiasm."
"And even if we couldn't, he still kept encouraging us."
"I remember when I was a kid, I didn't understand why he worked such long nights. I thought maybe he didn't want to see us. That we disappointed him somehow."
"But the truth was he would stop at nothing to put things right. He would give his all to keep the community safe. Whether it was chasing down leads to crimes, or pursuing malefactors of Kashmire. He had infinite patience and a solid sense of justice. That's why he is one of the greatest heroes of this region," Miles can feel his throat tighten. He looks at his hands, "Thank you."
"What a touching speech," Ash returns to the stage and grabs Miles's hand to shake it in gratitude. He leans in and adds, "Lucas always spoke very highly of you."
All Miles can do is nod with a weak smile.
He returns to his seat and they listen to other recognition speeches. All much longer and more eloquent. At some point, he feels Cecily slip her hand into his where it rests for the remainder of the event until the eating part of the banquet.
When they are dismissed to go inside, Cecily gently tugs Miles toward her after they stand. He notices she does that quite often and he doesn't mind being maneuvered to her wants and whims.
It's better that she is comfortable instead of him manhandling her at his every urge. Which is constant when he is around her. He peers down at her curiously.
"I didn't know," she says, "about your father. I'm sorry."
She has no reason to apologize and he frowns because she looks a bit sad.
"It's not your fault. I never talked about it."
"But I'm sorry, that...he's gone. I guess I'm saying my condolences are a bit too late but they're there."
He gives her a quick peck. "Thanks, but it will be okay. We are all moving forward."
They sit with Miles's sister and her perfect-looking family. Cecily wants to know her name, dammit! How does one broach that subject without coming off rude or awkward?
She can't just interrupt their conversation as they wait for food to be served.
Miles is finally smiling again as his sister reminisces about a story of their youth before thanking him for his speech. "Dad would have loved it."
"He seemed like a cool dude," Cecily offers.
"What's your dad like?" Miles suddenly turns the question to her.
"Um...well he's a bit eccentric."
Miles's sister laughs, "What does that entail? What does he do for a living?"
"Oh um, well technically he never had a career but he gardens, raises chickens, and DJs at my mother's dance studio here in Isla Del Kashmire."
Her eyes widen, "Oh, you're one of Sophia's daughters? You're one of those Louises?"
"Maddie!" Miles admonishes her for her tone, not quite understanding if it was a good or bad thing to be one of those Louises in his sister's mind.
"Wait! You have a sister named Maddie?" Cecily turns to him with a broad smile and nearly giddy giggle at the coincidence and at finally learning his sister's name. "I have a sister named Maddie! Well, 'Madeleine' if you want to be formal about it."
"Well, she's a 'Madison' but that's kind of funny we both have sisters with the same nickname," Miles is equally as amused.
The Madison in question clears her throat, "Miles, do you realize who your girlfriend is?"
He shakes his head helplessly and hopes she isn't going to say anything distasteful.
"She's the great-granddaughter of famed musical legend Derick Louis AND her grandfather is a former Mayor of Kashmire."
"You're an Orbinson?" Miles is slightly taken aback. He would have never guessed that about her.
"My mother was," Cecily tries to maintain a pleasant smile, just a little creeped out that his sister knows so much about her extended family. "You sure do know a lot about my family. Are you friends with my mom?"
She never liked to be judged based on her relations. Her relatives of old shouldn't have any bearing on how she was perceived. She liked to think her parents raised her to make a path for herself and not worry about expectations that came with a family name or blood.
It turns out Madison knew a lot of people in Isla del Kashmire, she was a social butterfly so of course, she would know of Cecily's mother.
"I'm sorry to cut this short but we actually have something to do after this, I didn't realize there was food afterward. It was lovely meeting you all," Cecily unceremoniously stands and dabs her lips with a napkin before flashing Miles a 'let's get the hells outta here' look. With that, she makes her exit.
He's blindsided, wondering what happened to make her want to leave so soon. Not that he has any complaints but would have liked to be in on this plan of ditching early. Before he can follow her out, he feels a strong slap on his shoulder and hears his brother-in-law say, "It was good to see you again, don't be a stranger."
He can't help it. It's hard to go back there.
The last place he saw Lucas alive.
And he only went recently after a year away because his sister wouldn't stop calling him.
Miles mumbles in a tone of noncommittal agreement and goes to find Cecily; she is like a little light at the end of a tunnel.
She's waiting for him at the gazebo, seeming lost in thought. It's Miles's turn to tug her firmly into an embrace, where he buries his face into her neck and peppers it with kisses.
"Thanks for getting us out of that. I'm sorry my sister sounded like a stalker," he says, muffled into her skin.
"Well, I do have something to do. Can you drive me somewhere?"
He pulls away with a raised brow, "What are you up to?"
She cups his jaw in her palm and smiles, "Just you wait and find out."
Not in a million years would Miles have guessed this was where she needed to go. The air was fresh and ripe with undertones of cow dung.
"Tell me, why are we here of all places?" he asks as they exit his car and begin walking up the pathway.
"It's for my job. Kind of."
"I could explain why but I feel like you start falling asleep when I wax poetic about the ground elements."
"Yeah, I'm good," he agrees and curiously follows her.
She knocks on the door of a picturesque farmhouse and waits. Miles feels out of place but Cecily seems confident in her actions. Sure, dropping in on total strangers seems normal, he thinks sarcastically. He can't fathom why she'd want to. To his knowledge, she doesn't know the owners.
After a minute, a man maybe a bit older than Miles answers the door. He looks at Cecily just as curiously before she gets to talking.
"Hello, Sir. I'm from the Flora Research Center in Memosa Bay. We recently received a soil sample from this farm, were you the one who sent it in?"
"Oh!" he says as registers her words, "I did! About a month ago. I was curious because my tomatoes grew quicker than usual this season. Was going to see if adding compost made the difference."
Cecily nods with understanding and Miles is already lost regarding their conversation.
"Would it be too bothersome if I could collect another sample?"
He leads them out through an orchard to a field of produce. Cecily bends down and touches the soil, which seems to weigh a bit in her hand. Miles looks at the paper lanterns hanging from the apple trees and asks about them while Cecily takes her sample.
There's a lot to learn about her. Most women he's known don't like getting their hands so dirty. Literally dirty.
It's kind of neat though because the farmer says they hung the paper lanterns in the trees so they could harvest at night. It's a clever idea.
Before they leave Cecily asks if they can explore the corn maze at the other end of the field to which the farmer agrees. He seems to like the idea someone is enthusiastic about his corn maze.
"Corn Mazes are SO fun," Cecily insists as she pulls Miles along.
"It's not even the season for them is it?"
"They aren't ripe but they're tall enough to do what they need to do."
Before she enters, she turns around within a patch of sunflowers and gives him a genuine smile, "I could stay out here all day! Nature is so beautiful!"
"Yeah...beautiful..." he agrees, though he's not paying attention to nature.
They make their way through the Maze, with Miles desperately trying to follow her as she thrashes through the hanging leaves of cornstalks.
"Have you given my offer any more thought?" he finally blurts, just as desperate. How can he not be, seeing her brilliant smile just minutes before as she proclaimed her love of nature was a vision burned into his permanent memory. How can he go for more than a day without seeing it again? Every moment he spends with her feels like he's drugged with something pleasant and consuming.
She halts in her path and considers. He doesn't need to remind her or elaborate on what offer he is talking about.
"I have," she finally says and then continues forward.
He follows and raises his eyebrows as high as his hopes, waiting for her to say more.
The 'and...?' is on the tip of his tongue but he beats it back, willing to be patient.
When they emerge from the corn maze she turns around to face him, "I think I would like to do a trial run. What if I come to live with you for a week and bring Dexter? We could see how we like it first?"
That's not entirely what he wanted but it's better than nothing.
He can't help but to grip her shoulders and bestow her with a kiss of gratitude. She doesn't expect it and for a moment seems stunned but then relaxes into his arms.
He finally withdraws his lips and promises, "It's going to be the best week ever."
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