Water On Fire [MileApo | mxm]

22

"More projects?" Mile's PR manager reiterates warily.

"More projects." Mile nods.

"And will you be...lovers?"

"Well, um, yeah."

She closes her eyes.

"And you remember me telling you distinctly why I thought this was a bad idea?"

Mile ducks his head.

"Yup."

She nods. When her eyes open again, they are glimmering.

"Okay, um..." She exhales shakily. "Then I guess you already know what I'm going to say." She spreads her hands helplessly. "There is absolutely no way I can spin two men who can't seem to stop role-playing as lovers, heterosexually... I know my limits. So I quit."

These two words echo in Mile's head like the banging of a gavel, the echo of a sledgehammer.

Mile purses his lips and nods, frantically curtailing the emotional reaction he wants to give way to.

"That's...understandable."

"You're a good boss, Mile," she whispers. "But what you're asking, it's...hopeless. No one can do the job you asked me to do, not while you yourself are determined to have your way."

He stares at the floor while she gets up and walks around him to leave.

The door closes behind her. It's sinking in now. Now Mile is panicking. He will never replace her. He can't trust anyone to replace her. She's the best in the industry. And no actor can survive long without a good PR team, especially not one with the sort of secret Mile is harbouring. Her skill in negotiating, threatening, and burying information is the only reason Mile and Apo's relationship hasn't made international headlines.

Mile's phone pings. It's Apo.

Have you read the book? He always knows the absolutely worst time to text.

Mile stifles a groan. He completely forgot about that damn encyclopedia. He's ashamed that he never got around to reading it after all that time, after promising Apo, ashamed that he let Apo down, so he lies.

I liked it. Very informative. About...cats...

He wishes Apo would drop it, but the man persists in his usual stubborn - albeit cute - way.

I wanna know what you thiiiink, Apo insists.

Mile takes a deep breath, jaw still taught with tension.

The truth is, it wasn't that big a deal in my opinion. He knows only honesty will work to get Apo off his back.

He's about to start thinking about damage control when Apo calls him.

"What do you mean?" Apo sounds crestfallen. "What do you mean, 'not that big a deal?'"

Oh, for fuck's sake.

"It's just..." He searches for a gentle, delicate way to break it to Apo. "Different things matter to different people and...this just wasn't that important to me." I don't like cats, Mile wants to scream, at least not obsessively like you!

He checks his watch. His father has requested a meeting, and just thinking about what he might want to discuss has Mile's stomach in knots. "I'm sorry; I've gotta go."

His father is probably probably going to give him a second helping of what Mile just got from his ex PR lead. Mile understands. He has not been good, always clicking where he shouldn't.